


Legend of the Magical Mcguffin: A Modern Twist on Ye Olden Fairytale. BOOK 1

by Kashaido



Category: Fairy Tales & Related Fandoms
Genre: F/M, Gen
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-12-16
Updated: 2020-12-16
Packaged: 2021-03-10 22:53:44
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 7
Words: 35,652
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28105035
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Kashaido/pseuds/Kashaido
Summary: When the mighty heroes that saved the day become the Kings and Queens everyone cheers. But when the elves and fairies have lived for hundreds of years eventually even the fairy tales will meet the modern age, and who will save us then? Legends live on but the ones that created them can't live forever. What happens when happily ever after doesn't go on ever after? What happens to the children of the parents that were lost to the evil queen's war? Will they start a new legend or fall like so many before? A modern twist on fairy tales after the fairy tale is told.
Kudos: 1





	1. Legend

**Author's Note:**

> I am re working this first chapter to have a mage telling the story instead of a storybook opening and a random narrator. I still wanted a fairy tale opening as this based off them, but I thought it was a little boring that way. I have marked where it is. This entire book has been written and I am just editing in some more details as I go. Any advice on things you feel like I need to add to the story or need to be clarified would be very helpful. I have been working on this story for 15 years so it is definitely time to show it off. This is planned to be a 5 book series. I am also playing with the title. It was called winterstorm: frost, but since Cynthia Winterstorm dies in the first chapter I am working on different titles.

“Legends,” The Mage said as he turned on the projector made out of magic mirror glass that showed pictures he thought into it, “by human storytellers depict beautiful beloved Elves.” (An image of one of Santa’s  
Elves was shown on the screen. “And kind yet whimsical Fairies,” an image of a fairy godmother now enters the screen.) “but legends can be wrong. Human stories now give silly 'once upon a times' to real stories and stretch the truth. Take this twin mirror to the one used by a Baroness to tell the truth. Humans have changed it to a Queen.”

“But Mr. Mage we know that isn't true.” A little girl with the blonde hair and lunar touched skin common to her tribe interrupted. The little moon Elf was one of his brightest students, but she was also very combative. 

“Yeah, there is no way a human could get that kind of magic.” Said another little girl. This one had black hair and was from a noble family that was going through a lot of turmoil. They didn’t like her speaking out like that at all. When she was around the little Blonde, though, there was no stopping her. The two of them together were a force to be reckoned with. 

The Mage closed the projector. “Oh, humans can’t have magic? Not even mages?” 

The class gasped. Their parents had kept with tradition of having history taught by the oldest Fae’Kind creature in the tallest tower. None of them were old enough to know exactly who he was. He was just someone that had always been there. They thought Mage was his name, an old name filled with honor they had long forgotten. Mage was actually his title and his occupation. He had been called Mage for so long though, that it might as well be his given name.

“You want to hear how a human came to teach history of Magic?” The Mage asked. Most of the students looked enthusiastically at him.

“Alright, listen well children.” The mage turned the projected glass mirror back on. 

"Remember that humans will tell of how we are kind. The old stories told of how the Fae'Kind were just brutal monsters that kidnapped humans. (A ring of pint sized fairies circled a human and pulled them into a Fairy Mound.) The truth is somewhere in between. As with every legend, they all bare a kernel of truth.  
Legend says that humans once worked with the magical creatures that could make any dream or nightmare a reality. Over the years, mistrust, fear, and jealousy consumed the lands and its inhabitants. (A depiction of a gray fog sweeping over the Fae’kind lands and sweeping into the human world appears.)

All creatures want what they do not have, magic or otherwise. (Depictions of human hands raised in anger. War machines from long forgotten wars. Images of Fae’Kind of all shapes and sizes using magic. The magic is not kind. They twisted the human shapes. They subdued them.)The humans had magic, but not to the extent of the Fae'Kind. 

The humans began to hunt the dragons, not for the treasures or to save fair maidens, but for the magical properties of their scales." (A dragon mama in front of two baby dragons shaking in terror. The mama dragon snarls at the man in head to toe armor. He bashes her in the head with a shield and raises the sword in the other hand.)

The little children gasp and a few cry.  
One of them whispers “those poor dragons.” 

The mage is not sure who said it. He continues on the story.

"Then they went after the unicorns for their magical horns. (horns are shown being ground up and used for medicine.) Anything and everything that had magic was targeted. They poisoned the waters that the Sealies and Mermaids used and called it fishing. (Sealies and mermaids are depicted with some disappearing as he talked.) They pillaged the land that was once filled with magic and called it agriculture. They chopped up the trees the Fae'Kind used saying it was for their homes. (Lands filled with trees are showing stumps. Wildflowers are shown tilled into fields of food and then rotting away.)

The magical creatures retaliated. Some captured the humans and made them their play things. Some thought they were like children, so they played tricks on them. (Images of silly pranks by Fairies like pretending to be little balls of lights switch to Elves in lab coats.) Still others thought they were little more than chimps with less hair and experimented on them. The rest decided to hide in the most barren of places.

They humans began to hunt their own people. (Images of humans hiding from other humans.) Only certain people were allowed to have magic. They wanted to hoard it for themselves. Eventually, they forgot the original purpose of their hunting, and condemned all magic for everyone. (Multiple human world events like one of the inquisitions are depicted.) They had long since declared magic the enemy and noticed no hypocrisy in their own actions. They tracked down anyone that had magic with a 'convert, or die' mentality. Even those that believed in magic were killed.

As the population of the magic creatures dwindled and the human's expanded, there were far fewer places to hide.

(Kings and queens of old from the three main Fae’kind left; the Dwarves, Elves, and Fairies; are shown shouting at each other and then finally sitting down to talk to each other are shown as the Mage continues.)  
Many heated discussions ensued about the human problem. After the near genocide of all but the strongest races of the magical creatures, an idea was formed... to make another world beyond the human perception... a world that the humans would never be able to see or touch. The last of the human mages came out of hiding to help, as they no longer wanted to be hunted for what they could not help, and thus the great barrier separating our worlds was created.

The barrier between the human realm and Fae'Kind realm had once been nearly impenetrable. (A giant bubble shows. People, human and Fae’kind alike, are shown trying to cross and failing. Eventually, they stop trying and forget it is there.) As the years passed, the barrier between the two worlds began to collapse and decay. Where once mighty beasts and strange magics had deterred anyone but the strongest of characters to cross, only the thin veil remained.

This is as far as I have re edited the beginning.__

As they began to disappear from the barrier, manifestation of magic in the human world began to reappear. Nature has her own way of balancing herself. As magic became more prevalent in the human realm, it became almost non-existent in the Fae'Kind realm. No one knew the cause, because they had all forgotten or dismissed the stories as myth or legend.

Tales had passed into the human realm to discourage them from visiting the weakest parts of the barrier. With the hunting of magical humans, there was even more incentive not to look lest you be destroyed too. In their reality, most humans would walk right around the barrier while not even knowing it was there. No technology would see it from the illusions cast by the barrier.

Accidents did sometimes happen, but those were few and far between. Those that did cross, were either not heard from again, or labeled crazy if they dared to speak of it. Some people did go out seeking the 'impossible' but time and fear had erased the true locations and they would find that their efforts would turn out futile in the end.

The Fae’Kind were too lost in their own fighting and too scared of their own legends of the barrier to even think of looking in that direction for the answer to the loss of magic. They instead used the portals or mounds they thought were more easily available to cross into the human realm. That is, if they even dared to try. Only the bravest of souls, or the most foolish, would tempt the fates in such a way.

With no one to watch and no one to fix it, the barrier began to fade until nothing but a small shimmer still existed. What terrible things might befall both realms when it was gone was unknown. Even the longest living of the Fae'Kind, who lived much longer than the humans, had lost any knowledge of the time before the barrier existed. Or so it is said. No one remembered how, who, or why it was put there in the first place…  
As for the rest of the rest of the Fae’Kind the rumors are thus:

The Dwarves hid underground and were dismissed from the minds of those on the surface.  
It is said there are still a few ice dragons living in the caves in what is now Antarctica. Fire dragons are said to be residing in the lava of the many volcanoes that riddle the land. Water dragons have long been rumored to exist in the unexplored ocean depths. However, none have ever been seen in the kingdoms of the Fae'Kind and just like the barrier they too became a myth. Forgotten by all.

The Unicorns, once the most wise and beloved of all magical and human creatures, vanished without a trace. Theirs was the only magic known to be strong enough to heal the rift between both realms, but they were hunted into oblivion. Or so the story says.  
Centaurs, Mermaids, and other 'half-breed' combinations of human and Fae'Kind are nearly extinct. Once they were prevalent in all corners of every land. However, with the banning of intermixing, such creatures either died out or attempted to pass as one or the other of their parent's species.

Creatures with three or more combinations died long ago. No longer can anyone feel the warmth of a cave heated by the Chimera. No ears will hear the wise words of the 'Sphinx' (their real name being hidden in a riddle, of course.) No eyes ever saw the Worpeltinger regardless, unless they ate a fermented berry, but this is rumored to be an imaginary creature rather than a magical one.

No one knows what really happened to the rest of the magical creatures, and in time they all became nothing but a story even to the Elves and Fairies.  
The Elves and Fairies were said to only be so successful at surviving because of their ability to blend in with humans so well. Of course, to the humans they are just as mythological as any other magical creature, real or otherwise.

The humans eventually put aside their craving for magic, and replaced it with science and technology…  
The mages, wizards, and witches of old faded into the background. Only a few underground groups remained. Their mantra was to always be silent, always be secret. Revivals of the old ways happen from time to time, but they never got back to what it once was. Too many years in the darkness had left only ashes and guesswork for reconstruction.

The rest of the humans forgot that magic itself existed within them. They turned their back on the natural world.

Fate is not always kind. She will reach her hand out when you least expect it, and gods help you then. For man was never meant to be without magic, and denying your true nature always claims a price. But what shall be the toll?

Fear, prejudice, and time turned truth into legend and myth, for both the realms. That was the biggest mistake, for most things fear what they do not understand, and with this uncertainty, even the most powerful of magics can fall.

And fall they did for one kingdom...

Deep in the woods lay a castle. The grounds around it were still green, but showing signs of deterioration. The castle itself was like the titans of old. Immense, intimidating, intense, and a whole lot of other ‘I’ words. It stood looming over the grounds like a strict father watching over his petulant children. The walls had long since lost their white color. Years of battle and siege had mucked it up until it was nearly the color of, well, muck is really the best word to use. 

Once it stood majestic and beautiful. It makes me eyes water to think of what has happened to it. The walls were sturdy like the bones of an Amazon. The arches rose like the waves of the sea. All Fae’Kind would come for parties and tournaments. These were so inspiring that it eventually became part of the human stories in Arthurian legend. Now that same castle had become so defunct that the grand balls had been moved to The Great Hall miles from here. 

The people inside the castle had waged their wars for centuries. Each one taking more lives than the last. No more so than the Great War, that brought the current resident to this place. The air in the castle went from the cold metallic tang of dried blood, to one of fresh apples and dewy leaves. For a time, the castle started to show an air of life and renewal. For most of the residents, the new Queen would be a boon to the very air they breathed. She also carried an air of hope with her youth, as most of the other adults had died in the war. She, and only a handful of other Elves in that battle, had survived. 

To prevent all of the Elves from perishing, they had elected to have her put in place. She was young and not part of the aristocracy, but she had something they didn’t. She had the ability to stop the war. She had convinced the then young Prince of the Fairies and the new King of the Dwarves to a truce between their people. It seemed, for reasons that nobody outside a handful of people knew, that they trusted each other. 

And thus, she won in a landslide, and her bloodline declared to be the true one. It was said that only royalty could accomplish such a feat. With the old line dead and her endless heroism, no one doubted her ascension to the throne. The only ones that could open the magic space of the Great Hall now would be her and her kin. She almost opened the castle ground again, but was convinced by the others that the new tradition should be upheld to ease the way. This was, of course, a silly bit of bureaucracy that made her baffled. In the end, it would be bureaucracy that killed her.

……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………...

Lady Cynthia Winterstorm, Queen of the Syntaric Elves, Heroine of the Great War, and Stabilizer of Chaos; fled from her room through the servant's passage, as sounds of battle erupted in the halls of the palace. She knew that this day was fast approaching, but she hoped to have more time to prepare.

Cynthia followed her most trusted servant and best friend, Gloria, through the endless passages until they reached the secret underground tunnels that would lead them to safely from the city.

All she could think about was making sure that she stayed alive long enough to give birth to the life growing within her womb. Far past the half a century mark, she had despaired that she would never have a child. Like many other Fae'Kind, she did not know her exact age, as she had stopped counting long ago. They aged about one year for every ten until they hit their coming of age and then one for every twenty and so on. The older they got, the more time stretched.

After the creation of the barrier, time was further distorted. Months could pass by and a hundred years could have passed in the human world. Conversely, a decade could pass by in their realm, and just mere moments in the human one. Strangely, the barrier that kept them safe also made it nearly impossible to be anything but an isolated series of nations for both realms. Only the fall of the barrier itself would restore any semblance of time.

Still, most Fae'Kind did not have this long before having a child. As long lived as they were, their cultures honored families and children. They would find mates and have children not long after adulthood. Cynthia had never married and the child she was having now came as a happy surprise. As far as she knew, Gloria was the only other person who knew that she was with child.

Earlier that night she had been woken from her bed by a loyal soldier. She had quickly grabbed the ring that was now the emblem of her line and wore it on a necklace around her neck. She had heard shouting in the distance and got up as quickly as was possible, leaving everything else behind. The future for her line was more important to her than her possessions. She only took the necklace as a proof of what she was and what they could be. 

Just as Gloria reached the beginning of the tunnel, she heard someone enter the room. Her soldier friend turned to stop whoever had burst in, giving her and Gloria precious time to escape. She gave a quick prayer to the goddess to keep him safe.

Reaching the end of the tunnels the women burst out and went as fast as they could into the dark and stormy night. Cynthia was slowing them down with her pregnancy, of course. Even magical people could only do so much when a body just doesn't want to move as fast. For hours they semi-ran, trying to put as much distance between them and the palace as possible. By the time they stopped, they were both soaking wet and cold. They were shaking like a newborn calf by the time they got to an old grove of trees that would block them from the cool fall breeze.

Gloria set out at once to build a shelter and start a fire. Even though they were no longer in the palace, Gloria acted more like the good servant than the lifelong best friend to Cynthia she was.

“Please, Gloria, we are nowhere near the palace so there is no need to be proper anymore. Speak plainly and stop fussing over me like I’m a child.” Cynthia scolded halfheartedly to her friend.

Cynthia continued softly, “Now, tell me what I can do to help. The two of us will get a shelter built faster than only one. And if I don’t keep moving I very well may freeze to death.”

“I’m sorry Lady-ah… Cynthia, it’s just that it has been so long since we could speak as friends that it is difficult for me to do so now.” Gloria said catching herself being proper like she usually needed to around the queen.

Gloria was a human that had learned magic along with her friend when they were just children. Back then, it was allowed for them to play together. As an only child, it was typical to have Fae'Kind parents kidnap a human child for a playmate. As adults they were then designated as servants. (I ain't saying it's right, that's just how it was.) Although humans have shorter lifespans, time and exposure to magic had extended Gloria's life long beyond the human capacity too.

With magic, everything is connected. Invisible strands seem to magnetize things to each other. If it weren’t for Cynthia’s parent’s grabbing Gloria, Gloria would be dead. If it had been anyone else but Gloria, during the Great War, instead of helping Cynthia, she would have just ran away and lived her life. Cynthia owed Gloria her life, and Gloria, in turn, owed her hers. Magic is funny like that. The spider like web touches so many, and yet always seems to come back full circle. 

However, Gloria’s life wasn’t easy. The people had grown to distrust humans, even someone that had been there for centuries like Gloria, were considered a threat. Cynthia had rallied hard for her friend to stay with her where she knew they would be safe. The best she could offer was to get Gloria a position as a personal servant. Even that was only available because of her position as queen, and because Gloria herself had fought alongside her in the war.

Long ago, most of the elders had been killed in the Great War. Cynthia, who was little more than a child, had been elected queen. However, even queens were not above the wishes of her people. As beloved as she had been, her love of humans had made her some very powerful enemies. It was only a matter of time before they came for her, and for the end of her peaceful reign. It was likely one of the current usurpers would be queen now.

Cynthia didn’t mind not being queen. She had never really wanted the position in the first place. She would much rather have been a singer, or a writer of poetry. She had never thought of herself as a warrior. The honest truth was, if it weren’t for the danger to her child’s life, she would be thankful. Gloria had been a much better soldier than her, whenever she was allowed to fight. She could see the fire in her Gloria’s eyes even now. 

She knew Gloria wanted to turn back and fight the usurpers, but wouldn’t for her sake. She wanted to argue for Gloria to turn back, but she honestly needed her for the baby. For once in her life, Cynthia was completely selfish, and said nothing. All those years ago, she had tried to dismiss Gloria, but it was no use, Gloria refused to leave her. If she had been a magical creature with her battle prowess, Gloria would have been queen.

Cynthia looked at her beloved companion knowing that in another time and another place they would have been something else… instead of ‘servant’ and ‘master,’ even if it was in name only. For that matter, change their genetics and the servant and master would have been flipped, too. Cynthia did not like to think of it that way, but that was how it was. Everyone they had ever known were long gone, and they were all each other had. Despite (or perhaps, because of) their history, they were family now.

Gloria’s eyes teared up as she looked at her friend, and quickly changed the subject away from their friendship, and back to the situation at hand. “You are right though, I could use some help with this. Grab that tree right next to you, and bend it towards me a bit.” She nodded as Cynthia very carefully bent the tree. “Yeah, just like that… now hold that there while I cast this…”  
“NO! No magic. We will be found if we use any.” Cynthia yells, stopping Gloria before she was able to build up enough magic to sing the trees together.  
“Maybe we should find a cave.” Cynthia said. “Someone would have felt that, or they might have sensors that detect my magic. For better or worse, your exposure to me has made your magic feel like mine.”

Gloria looked doubtful that they could sense them so far from the palace, but she let it go. After all, she was a human, and maybe it was some kind of Elven thing she hadn't somehow learned about yet.

“Let’s go, I am sure they have picked up on that build up of magic and I do not think we will be out of range of them for long, if ever.” Cynthia said. “At least with a cave we will have some chance of survival.”

“A cave would probably be best until this storm blows over.” Gloria agreed.

Walking briskly through the forest they search for a cave at the base of the mountains. It was nearly dawn before they found one, got firewood, and lit the fire. They were so tired that they both quickly fell asleep on the floor of the cave, cold, hungry, and sore. They had escaped.

Sleep was a short reprieve from the challenges that faced them ahead. The last fleeting thoughts that passed through their minds, were that it was going to be a long few months if they could not use magic.

………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………

Three months passed with Cynthia and Gloria living in the cave unable to use magic, and feeling empty because of it. In the middle of the night Cynthia finally gave birth, but no matter what Gloria did it was not enough. Lady Cynthia Winterstorm was welcomed back into the earth.

Death in childbirth didn't happen often with their people. However, it was unheard of for a woman to give birth without a whole host of Fae'Kind welcoming the child into the world and surrounding them with magic.

It was unlikely that with just one person's magic that the child would live long. The lifespan was likely to be as short as Gloria's was supposed to be. Gloria didn't know, because as far as she knew, it had never been done before.

The birth was long and laborious. Many times both women worried that the babe would not be able to come from the womb without magic to guide it. Finally, with sweat dripping from her face, Cynthia gave a heave to expel it. Gloria felt life energy being released, far too much for her friend to possibly survive. She quickly grabbed the infant and magicked it free, as there would be no use hiding it all now. She started to say what it was out loud, but Cynthia shook her head, terrified even now that someone would hear. Gloria wished she could hand her the infant for even a moment, but knew that what was going to happen would put its’ life in danger.

Gloria cuddled the new babe close to her heart as she looked at Cynthia. As she had laid there dying, she had handed her a lengthy golden chain necklace with a delicate silver ring in its’ grasp. Embedded in the silver was a deep blue sapphire. The word "Silver" was recently engraved on the inside. The name of the baby. Gloria gulped. As she looked at the ring she noticed her Lady’s emblem etched into the stone. Gloria looked at Cynthia solemnly knowing the ways of death in this land. Any possessions still on her would disintegrate upon death. It was a strange consequence of the magic of the Elves and Fairies.

Gloria didn't know if the same would happen to her upon her death, nor did she know if it was true of all Fae'Kind. She found the whole thing distasteful. The only thing that would even prove that Cynthia ever existed was the ring and the child Gloria now held in her arms. Cynthia's body shimmered and began to fade like a shadow being hit by a light. Gloria felt the magic released from Cynthia’s form. The release felt like the summer sun, warm against Gloria’s face... and then it was gone. It was at that moment that Gloria knew that others would have felt it too and come to investigate.  
Gloria remembered that even though Cynthia was dying that didn’t mean she would be gone for good. 

The magical specks released from her body would merge with other magic and eventually become part of it. Everything comes from stardust, and to stardust everything will one day return, again. Gloria watched the specks disperse, closed her eyes, and swallowed hard. She had to get out of here before others came. There was no time to grieve, only time to live. She took the baby and ran as fast as she could.

Many rumors about that night surfaced. Some say they saw Lady Cynthia herself fleeing from the castle. Some say that she was carrying a child. Some say she joined an underground rebellion of Evil Elves determined to take back the crown. Others say that the queen did nothing wrong and the new one was nothing but a fake.

The new Queen was eventually found to be a tyrant and a thief. Her soldiers gained more power as she became little more than a figurehead with seemingly little power. Only the fear of her personal loyal guards kept the people in check.

In time, Cynthia was once again called a hero by the people. The more the crown would insist that she was evil, the more the people grew to love her once again. Gloria's name and role in getting the queen out of the palace, like so many other things, was lost to history. The child, rumor said, was probably dead, if it even existed in the first place. The soldier that helped the queen was charged with treason and labeled a traitor. He was banished from the palace and his name stricken from all the records.

So ends the reign of peace. Oberon, the Fairy King, started a campaign against the Elves soon after. He did not say why, but most assumed he didn’t approve of the new regime. Over two hundred years of strife followed for both kingdoms. It is said that soon we will see the end. The fires of hatred consumed so much, and it seems that nothing will ever stop it.

But for every ending, there must be a beginning. And this story is just gettin’ started. More than two centuries passed for us, while many more flew by in the human realm. Two hundred years and so many things have been destroyed. Yet, I remain. This story isn’t about me, whoever, it’s the story about four young whipper snappers that started a quest to bring back the magic. 

Some say the journey matters more than the quest. To those I say eat a toadstool! The quest here may only bring some magic back, or it just might be what saves us all. Only time will tell, and as a semi-immortal, I have all the time in the universe.


	2. The lost one

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The four main characters are Luke, Dalaina, Rina, and Tobias. We will see inside all of their heads at some point as well as some others. Will edit in another chapter here soon. Enjoy! Leave feedback, please.

In a small city in Minnesota a young girl on the cusp of adulthood walked through the city with eyes wide in wonder. This, however, was no ordinary city, and this was no ordinary woman... For just outside the city, lay forgotten ruins. The place was filled with magic to such an extent, that unless you were looking for it, you would never find it. This woman was on a mission that would not be deterred, except by her own curiosity, and the prejudices of those that would join her on this great mission. Don’t all tales start just this way? It might be cliché, but all heroes start young and innocent of the ways of the world. But, now we are getting ahead of the story.

Let’s start again with our first young hero finding herself very lost, and with no one to turn to. Her first experience in the city was not as great as you’d imagine, but all things happen for a reason. For it is on this day, that events start unfolding that will change the course of the known universe for all time. Ah, there we go again, jumpin’ ahead of the story. Yes, let’s go back to where it all started...

After sneaking out of the city, Dalaina walked around the ruins in vain, hoping to find what had been lost to her people for so many generations. The humans had been desecrating the once expansive and beautiful forests, and as each year passed, they continued to cut down the trees for their petty and useless things. The Elven magic dwindled to the point it took so much effort just to cast a basic fire spell, that the blacksmiths could no longer make the famous Elven weaponry. Since the hand-lit fires did not have the Purple glow from the magic that was needed, they could not forge the Eversharp blades.

The blades were not only a primary weapon for the military commanders, but a magical treasure itself. Each one that was not made grieved the Elven people, and made it that much harder to cast their magic. Forged in the mighty blacksmith's workshop, the Eversharp blades were made with such precision and flawless majesty, that only the upper class citizens and the royal families could afford to buy one. Each blade lost lowered the prestige of the family, and many went into poverty from trying to acquire one. Some unimaginative cur had named them Eversharp blades because they were forever sharp. They once had a beautiful name, but like so many other things, it too was lost to time. So, Eversharp blades they remained.

More than just names were lost to Dalaina's people. Generation upon generation of humans had starved the land and its magic folk on the other side of the veil, of the life and liberty of promised magic and magical items. By destroying the forests on their side, it leaked through to the Elvish ones. Elves that were once known as tree-folk, now lived in bountiful cities. The culture and way of the wilds only exists in human Fairy-tales now. Many an Elf searched in vain; using Fairy mounds and hidden Elven portals to jump to the human world; looking for lost magic. They hoped to bring some back to return the forests to their former glory. The Fairies eventually joined them in the search. Separately, of course, for the two even meeting for such a mission was against all that they held dear. Many doors were opened, with Fae'Kind and humankind both crossing the borders. Many died from the crossings, and despair took over both of the realms. Eventually, people stopped trying. All hope seemed to be lost, and the wars to come were foreshadowed in the barren fields where the once great trees now lay rotting.

Just an hour before, Delaina had entered a human city for the first time in her long life. The first bite of winter had hit this realm, and Dalaina was freezing. She went to the first house she came across to get something warm to wear. She snuck in, using a little bit of magic to open the door. She saw a long black coat that would cover her to her ankles on the hook. Perfect, she thought. She did not recognize the foreign garment as a coat. However, it was clear what the purpose was by looking at it. Delaina did feel a moment of guilt, and left a gold coin from her realm as payment.

She didn't know the currency of this land, but it was all that she had. She had appeared in the woods half a mile away from the ruins, but not knowing which direction to take, she ended up finding herself walking into a city. She had picked a house that she felt with what little magic she had control of, to be a house of warmth and kindness. Sensing these things was one of the few inherent gifts left to her kind, but only if one was searching for it. She heard a noise from above her and left quickly, not wanting a confrontation with the owner. As she left, Delaina's green eyes glowed with Elven magic and curious wonder as she looked at the busy city bustling with noise. She was used to being up early in the morning but never expected the humans to be the same way.

She had never even seen a human before, and wondered why they were depicted as hideous creatures of unspeakable evil in their stories. They had the same number of limbs, and their eyes were in the right place. The didn't breathe fire, or any of the other ridiculous stories she had heard. Some were walking, and some were driving around in automobiles. She knew what those were only from the vocabulary words that had trickled over to her side of the barrier. She knew what it was supposed to be, but her first sight of it was still very strange.

As the cars rushed by on the street, she stayed to the sidewalk as close to the buildings as possible, watching them go by. The cool breeze battered against her dress, and the faded blue garment billowed around the back of her legs while the front stuck to them. Unfortunately, the coat she had taken only went all the way down the backside, with three buttons in the front to keep it closed. She wished for a moment that she had one that would cover both sides of her. With true Elvin stoicism, she shrugged it off, thinking that it wouldn't help much. Boreas, the god of Northern Winter must have awoken early. By her calculations, it was supposed to be fall. She knew the farther North she went the colder it got, but she was not expecting it to be this early or quite this cold. She made a mental note that when this was over, she would never go this far North again.

She watched the people and the cars come and go for far longer than she should have. For a while, she was content to merely watch them, but then her natural curiosity of the unknown took over. Her curiosity had gotten her into trouble more than once, and today would be no exception.

She craned her neck to look at the tops of the buildings, which were taller than any tree she had ever seen. Living so close to the the barrier had made her used to seeing far too many trees, so it was possible that she just hadn't seen any that large. She wondered how the buildings could withstand the wind without falling over. Maybe the humans do have some kind of magic? She thought. Hope surged in her heart. If they have magic, maybe they can lend me some or help me to find more. She didn't know what she could offer in exchange, but it was worth trying.

The hood fell back as she looked up at these strange metal and earth toned monstrosities they called buildings. She was too entranced by the wonders she was seeing to notice that she was now exposed. She always kept her hair as free as she wanted her spirit to be. Beneath the coat she wore, it traveled all the way down to the small of her waist. She was too excited at everything to notice both her face and hair showing, for any that cared to look. She only noticed the occasional strand of her long Black hair whipping around from the frozen wind when it obscured her sight. She does her best to ignore them as unimportant while she walked forward with her eyes glued to the skyline.

The humans didn’t notice her for a few minutes, busy with their own lives. That is, until she started walking. For all they had known, she was simply a human with a light coppery skin. They thought perhaps she was a really pretty Latino or Indian woman, but now they saw her for what she truly was... something from out of their own world. Her beauty captivates them and her movements hypnotize them. Forcing all who look at her directly, to instantly want her for themselves, or destroy what they cannot have.

They were starved for beauty such as this, in a world with so little of the magic of the Fae'Kind. She walked with a grace and agility that radiated from her thin frame. She was an Elf after all. Many things about her people were twisted over the years, but that part of the legend was true. Each step she took seemed almost careful and deliberate, her whole body moving like a ballerina floating across a stage. No human could ever match it. Few would pay enough attention to ever be able to step the way she did.

Being just shy of her coming of age she had not learned how to use her magic to disguise her features and her unusual gestures. She appeared to be in her early twenties in human years, but in her world she was not yet an adult. Only adults were allowed to be taught that kind of magic because of how unstable magic had become. As a result, her magic and her Elven gifts of grace and beauty shone like a lighthouse. This is what caused some of the humans to look more closely at her when they would normally just walk by. Even if they wouldn't have noticed her steps, it was impossible to see her face and not be entranced. All of Fae'Kind had this effect. Another reason to never venture into the human realm.

The humans started staring intently at this wondrous new creature walking freely in their midst. With her hood down her back instead of on her head, there was nothing to prevent them from seeing her eyes. They glowed from within from her Elven magic. It was also the worst possible thing to happen. The moment their eyes laid on hers, they lost their will, their hearts, and their minds. Since the days of the first human to Elf interaction, looking directly in the eyes of a human was forbidden for just that reason, until one learned how to turn it off.

Elves were a race that was to be strictly observers only, as they would contaminate the experiment if they interceded. They were the ones that took the humans and experimented on them. They were the scientists in their world once the forests were gone. Elves loved to watch and observe, preferring nature and the natural over the destruction manipulation could reap. That much never changed.

Although they did use the Eversharp blades, the forges were made of all natural material, and the magic was all natural. They reasoned that they pushed what was already a naturally occurring magic in another direction, and thus was not considered the same thing as unnatural magic.

At the same time Dalaina was staring in wonder at the strange things she had never seen, so too were the humans. Although, most were entirely unaware of what they were doing. Feeling uneasy, Dalaina glances behind her to see if anyone was following her. She bumped into a man that was slightly taller than her, no mean feat at her Un-Elfish height. Elves were short and thin. The stories of their large figures are greatly exaggerated. Dalaina was not short. She was too muscular to be called thin. Another thing to mark her as an outcast.

The man she bumped into looked straight into her eyes. Unable to help himself, he grabbed her arm and would not let go. Ripping her arm free she ducks into a nearby alley. She hears footsteps walk on by and relaxes. She turns around to continue walking, but reaches a fence and can go no farther.

“Oh, lick a Troll!” She whispers vehemently at the fence that was so tall that she could not possibly jump over it. It had a hard aluminum rusty lock on it. Having never seen one in her life, she stares at it dumbfounded for a couple of minutes before giving up. She squares her shoulders and takes a deep breath. She steps out to the sidewalk much more carefully this time. Seeing none of her former pursuers, she breathes a sigh of relief.

Her relief is short lived. She feels the hairs on the back of her neck stand up. She had remembered to walk carefully, but had forgotten to put her hood back up. She quickly pulls it back up and secures the tie tightly before breaking into a run. Her cloak flaps against her thighs as she runs faster than the human eye could possibly trace. Another gift of her race. For this one, she was thankful. It was probably the first time in her life she was happy to be an Elf.

Ducking in and out of the alleyways, it does not take long for Dalaina to lose her would be captors. For blocks she runs, her steps echoing through the empty alleyways, each one coinciding with the pounding of her heart. Thump thump. Pound pound. Her heart races more from fright than from running. Her Elven origins give her more stamina and speed, which had just saved her from certain death. To onlookers she would appear as nothing more than a slight movement in the peripheral vision, but there would be nothing there when they turned to look. Humans were always dismissing movements out of the corner of their eye as a trick of the eyes or an active imagination. Dalaina knew that is what they would chalk up seeing her as. IF they even remembered the encounter at all.

Humans had an amazing capacity for forgetting things that took them out of their comfort zone. This was true of so many magical things. Humans only saw what they wanted to see. Sometimes, they don’t even see things right in front of their face. Having lost her followers, she slumps against the side of the building. She slowly slid down the rough bricks completely exhausted.

She closes her eyes and takes deep breaths, accidentally inhaling the fouls smells of garbage, urine and other unpleasant smells she didn't want to identify from the area. Why humans didn't take care of the land they lived on was beyond her, but she had a much more important mission than cleaning an alleyway. She meditates, gathering what little of her energy she could reach. She had expanded a little too much from her getaway and unknowingly had activated a little magic too. With her lack of skill she had no way to compensate correctly. Each moment in this place was painful, every breath extremely difficult. Every second a choice to go beyond the pain and not fragment into a thousand pieces.

Magic was funny like that. So many coveted it, not knowing the cost. It was not unheard of for people to have 'spontaneous combustion'. This was really a rationalization for magic overload. Magic was volatile and dangerous in the wrong hands. There was a reason they only taught it to the adults in her realm now.

More than once she did too much gathering of energy and had to breath in deeply to calm herself down again. Each time taking in again the unpleasant smells that would make any other Elf faint from just being near it. It said much of her history that she did not faint or give up. Dalaina was many things, but a quitter was not one of them. If she was, she would have been long gone from this world. She stood up slowly, looking around one last time to make sure there was still no one around. She made herself slouch and walk more slowly and less deliberately, as she had seen the humans do. She double checked that her hood was up.  
She had crossed the Elven portal with no idea of where she was going. She had never been to the human realm, and she had never known anyone who had. She had imagined what humans would be like before jumping into the portal, but she had no idea of what she was truly in for.

Her first sight of humans had been shocking. They looked very much like her, and nothing at all like the humans in the stories. Most were taller than the Elves, and had stubby short little ears. They did not have the Elven glow and grace she was used to, but the rest of it looked about the same. She was shocked that they had two arms and two legs like her. Pictures always showed them with multiple arms and legs and many of them had animal heads. These humans looked nothing like that. She wondered for a moment what else the legends got wrong.

She walked cautiously as she thought. She watched the passing humans with fascination in her peripheral vision. Even though many had just tried to destroy her, she had no malice in her heart. For what would she be like seeing a creature from another world? A creature walking around like that without any filters? She could not imagine to do any less than what was done to her. She knew that they had no control of what they were doing. They fascinated her, these strange creatures. 

She was always fascinated by new and unusual things.  
Eventually, she comes to the edge of the city, and finds a hole in the fence. After climbing through, she follows a road to what feels like nowhere. Walking down the road, she wonders whom the fence was supposed to keep out, or what it was supposed to keep in. She sees a field of wildflowers to her left, and unable to resist the urge, she ventures in. Of course she did, for that was how she was. She inhales deeply the scents of nature that remind her so much of home and cleansing her senses of the disgust from the city.

She smells deeply the Lavender and Sage. She gazes lovingly at the Harlequin Blueflag. The setting sun highlights them and gives them orange and navy hues. The combination is seemingly almost magical in its intensity, she thinks. It reminds her of home. The human cities were dirty and ugly, but this place was one of pristine beauty.

The humans, she thinks as she lightly touches the flowers, seem to be without choices when it comes to magic. Each one was drawn to her against their will. Choice was a funny thing to Dalaina, to others it may be just a word, but to her it was everything.

This cannot be much different from home, with their rigid regulations and strict codes, she thought. The elders thought of her as a child that would never grow up. Even on the verge of adulthood status, they acted like she was only 100 years old. She was always in trouble among her kind for her ‘wild’ and ‘undisciplined’ ways, especially compared to other Elves of the same age.

Even the researchers among her kind were not as fascinated with new things. They all followed the codes and rules imparted on them since birth. Do this, do that, look this way, talk that way. Bow when you meet someone of importance. Never call someone by their first name until given permission. Stick with your clan, stay with your tribe, don't go outside the city. Choices seem not to be popular there and here. Especially for one such as she.

Every place she went seemed to be filled to the brim with clear-cut standards of living. Honor your tribe, honor your clan, honor your race. How do I get honor? If an Elf is seemingly without honor, they are told they will never attain it. They can lick a Troll, she thinks venomously, for thinking that! I believe in choice, in freedom! Yet, the Elves condemn me for it? The humans want to capture or destroy me. Are there no safe places?

She crushes the flower in her hand as she thinks this. Realizing what she had done, she hangs her head in shame. Her coat falls over her eyes. Finding the magical energies to stop the destruction of my people is the only way of showing them that I could and do have honor. But... how to do it is another matter entirely. I only hope that I do not shame my race and myself any further by failing. In this, I am certain; if I fail, all is lost.

Sobering from the thoughts of possible failure, Dalaina looks around, and realizes the sun was nothing more than a slit on the horizon and that the moon was on its way to take its place. She had strolled through the fields, lost in her thoughts, for a long time. 

Wandering around with her head in the clouds was typical of Dalaina, and another one of the reasons her kind ostracized her. She often wondered why thinking so deeply and having thoughts of different futures was a bad thing. Many an Elf had berated her for this wondering, and she often berated herself for it as well.  
This was one of the many reasons the other nobles had gathered one night to discuss Dalaina and her foster parents many years ago. They all had known that her parents had found Dalaina on their doorstep early one morning, taking her in as their own as was expected of all Elves in the event of an orphaned child.  
She had been thought to be lucky, getting one of the few noble families to find her. 

Unfortunately, Dalaina was trouble. She could never stop thinking about things, asking questions and challenging the status-quo of Elven life. Her parents were not only nobles, they also owned two Eversharp swords. They were the equivalent of a human Duke or Duchess. On the very night that the other nobles gathered, her parents had been discussing what, if anything, they could do to maintain their status. Dalaina being accepted as a true Elf was definitely a requirement.

Her parents, along with the rest of the nobles, worked differently than the rest of the Elves. The others took any orphaned children they found and raised them in the larger community. The nobles were afraid of others using the children to obtain the little magic left to them. When they found children wandering around, they raised the child themselves to horde the magic. They hid them from the rest of the world. Only the other nobles even knew of Dalaina's existence.

The other nobles had noticed the trouble that Dalaina's parents had, and debated for hours whether or not they should try to have her transferred to another family. They eventually settled on an unorthodox conclusion. They would take the family's blades, in the hopes it would wake them up to their duty to their only daughter. It would go terribly, terribly, wrong.

Late in the night, the Elven Elders showed up at their door, demanding the Eversharp swords. The loss of these blades would remove Dalaina’s parents from the nobility. They demanded that since they could not control Dalaina, they could not be able to handle the magic of the swords. The magic was needed elsewhere, in the hands of people that could make more use of it. Instead of trying to convince the elders that Dalaina could be helped, they simply accepted the punishment, and gave up the swords. The nobles spoke of honor codes and that they had no choice. Perhaps this was the beginning of Dalaina's lifelong obsession. Perhaps it was something that was merely nurtured by this incident. Either way, without the swords and their status, her parents no longer had the means to live in their home, forcing them to leave to another neighborhood.

The elders were not expecting this outcome. They expected the parents to fight for their child and to work harder to keep their lifestyle. They did not expect the parents to give up the blades and dishonor themselves by dishonoring their daughter. While Dalaina was trouble, it was the parent's responsibility to keep her in line. They had no choice but to honor the parent's in their decision and to let them leave. The rest of the nobility closed in on the home and quickly dispersed with all the magic they could get out of it.

Every trace of Dalaina and her parents ever being there disappeared. After that, Dalaina's parents left for a different tribe and left her behind. The community eventually adopted her as a whole, as was their way, and the way it should have been from the beginning. Her parents parting gift was using up what was left of their magic to spell her into never revealing their identities or telling what had happened to her.   
Eventually, when she got old enough, the magic would be overcome by her own but it would be far too late.  
Unable to locate any parents and with Dalaina unable to tell them anything, there could be no official parents. Their way was to have a set of parent and to have the rest of the community help raise them. Since they could not, the community passed her from family to family and tribe to tribe. She referred to them all as her family after a few years as there was no one else. She would never be claimed by a tribe or a single family. She would never have a home. She brought only bad magic according to her original parents. This term was only used for the worst of things, but it was something that would haunt her for many many years to come.

Remembering those difficult and lonely days caused Dalaina to doubt her ability to achieve the tasks at hand. I only wish to return honor to my family; she thought somberly, I wish I had someone to help me.  
Shaking off the last bit of self-doubt, she takes in her surroundings. She had always been alone in one way or another. All the wishing in the world could not change her fate. She sees the outline of ruins off in the distance and she makes her way to them. As she gets closer she is drawn by their faint pulsing magic. 

Cautiously, she enters the ruins and examines the rubble. Most of the stone buildings were unrecognizable, but a few on the outskirts of the city still had walls standing. It is as though the whole area was blown up from the center. Dalaina shivers, despite the warm evening, thinking about the devastation that is laid out around her. She runs back a distance to get away from the epicenter of destruction. At the middle of the ruins looked to be what was once a large courtyard with a still standing pedestal in the center. It appeared as though whatever had caused this originated from this point. Stopping to take it all in, she hears a voice from behind her gasping for air.

"What in the world were you running from, Speedy Gonzales?"

She turns around, seeing a tall and attractive man slightly hunched over, his sandy colored hair lay soaked against his forehead. She had never seen a male taller than her. He was about six feet, give or take and inch, and for a moment those few inches difference in their height made her uncomfortably aware of herself.

His already tight tee-shirt was plastered from sweat to his chest, showing off his lean but muscular body. His skin was pale compared to her own despite its sun kissed glow. He also had a fetching, if somewhat sarcastic, smile. One he was flashing at her even as he bent over. She wondered how he could be warm in those stretchy pants and plain t-shirt in this cold weather. She had no way of knowing they were for jogging, and she momentarily forgot that she had spent so much time in the city that the sun was already far in the sky. She felt a bead of sweat trickle down her back, and realized she was covered in it under the coat. She was still bundled up, and considering how her time in the city went, she had no intention of taking anything off.

Shaking her head clear of all her unwanted thoughts, she said with exasperation, "Can't you people just leave me alone!”

"Well, I would, Roadrunner, but I noticed you weren't exactly ‘Jane Doe’." He gestures at her form.

"My name is not Speedy Gonzales, or Roadrunner, or Jane Doe, or whatever else you are calling me!” She sticks her hands on her hips. “Do I know you? Wait, were you following me?” She takes a step back from him. “Why would you follow me?” She remembers this time to keep her eyes down and her hood down on her forehead. She had no wish for a repeat of the city.

Finally recovering from the run, he stares blankly at her for a moment, and then starts laughing. "I didn't know it would be possible to talk as fast as you walk, but somehow you’ve managed." Shaking his head, he steps closer to her. "My name is Luke, and no, we don't know each other. And, well, I guess I was following you...” flirting outrageously with extravagant gestures he says, “I mean... how can I resist a beautiful Elf like you running from something?” He smiles charmingly only to be met by her furrowed eyebrows and tightly closed mouth.

Unknowingly, he had said the worst possible thing at the worst moment to do so. He was, sadly, very used to it. He spent more time than he should with his foot in his mouth.

He sighs and asks gently, “What were you running from anyways?" He is simply met by further silence. “Let's try this again. Hi, nice to meet you.” He extends his hand out and waits for her to introduce herself and shake his hand.

She stares at his hand as if it is an alien from outer space and says, "What am I supposed to do with that? I am NOT spitting on it, like I've seen you people do!" He drops his hand and starts laughing so hard, he has to hold his sides while a tear falls from his eyes.

"What's so funny? How did you know I was an Elf?" He continues laughing, almost to the point of doubling over, while she stares at him in confusion. "The name's Dalaina, Dah-Lane-ah. I anglicized it years ago from Dalaina with a T. It’s not so funny when they try to grab YOU and rip you to shreds."

He stands straight again, wiping the tear away, “Well, Dalaina, baby, it may not be. Nevertheless, you got some issues standing in the middle of the Farsoran Elven Ruins, and not even knowing what a handshake is.”

He gestures at the ruins around them. “You clearly need some help from someone used to the human culture. Of course you’re an Elf,” He gestures at her 'cloaked' form and Dalaina looked at herself in confusion as he continued, “and even at a full run I was only moving at like, three fourths the speed of yours. It took me forever to catch up to you and you look like you've been sitting here,” He gestured at where she had just been, “A while. I’m well read on Elven movements. You move at about 50 spaces a turn and I only move at 30, at least according to D&D.” He rubs his chin in an unconscious thinking gesture.

Staring at him in confusion she asked, “Handshake? D&D?”

Nodding to himself he said, “Yeah, kind of what I thought, babe.”

She raises an eyebrow at him in indignation, “Why do you keep calling me a newborn? I am over 250 years old.”

“It’s a form of endearment, it means I like you.” He explains patiently, as he would to a child. He silently thought to himself that she was way too old for him. There had to be laws against someone dating someone 10x their age. He shook his head at the thought.

“Why exactly do you like me? You don't know anything about me.” Dalaina said.

“Well, darlin' you..” He starts to say when she interrupts him.

“Wait, what was that again? The Farsoran Elven ruins...?” She crossed her arms across her chest. “How do you even know about the ruins? No human should know that!” She shouted as she frowned at him suspiciously.

“Took you long enough to figure that out, babe.” He pulls out a Smart-phone, “Well, there’s an App for that.”

“An...App...What is an app?” All suspicion was then forgotten in the presence of a new curiosity. Without even trying, he had already found her Achilles heel. She leans forward to see the strange new device. A slew of foreign words and phrases graced the screen, and strange pictures sat in squares over some of the words. She recognized some of the words, but in the context presented, they made little sense to her.  
Whether by magic or close proximity, all magical creatures spoke the languages of the peoples they shared the lands with. They could speak their own, but they seemed to absorb or magically understand the language of the humans in close proximity too. Dalaina was particularly good at recognizing languages because all the places she had been to in her life. There were dozens if not hundreds she could probably speak. This was the one and only benefit of being passed around like a rag doll. On the other side of the coin, many of the languages she knew were probably dead languages by now.

He pushed some buttons with his fingers, but nothing seemed to happen.

He starts to put the phone away, but she asks, “Did you not like the ‘app’?” as she tries to take it from him.

Raising an eyebrow, he sees her looking at the device like it was the Holy Grail. He hands the phone over, wondering what she would do with it, and she proceeds to click away.

For just a few moments, she seems content, but when nothing happens, she throws it behind her, proclaiming, “You are right, it is useless.” As the phone flies through the air, his face goes to one of horror, as he tries in vain to reach for it. The phone smashes into a jagged rock and shatters. They stare at it for a couple minutes, him in despair, and her in confusion as to what she did wrong. Finally, he seems to shrug it off, and takes off the backpack he was carrying.

“I am curious, what was that thing?” She asks.

He digs into his backpack, tossing out random trinkets, “That thing is called a cell phone, a Smart-phone actually. It wasn’t working, now it never will... But, somewhere in here… I got my Old Trusty if I can... just find it in this… How all this stuff gets lost in here I’ll never know!”

“But, you called it an App…” She said, looking from him to his backpack. ”Old Trusty? Is that a little Fairy friend of yours in there or did I just smash him on the rocks... Since you are so found of things with many names?” 

She stares at the backpack with her eyes wide open. Her eye dart back and forth again between him and his never-ending backpack of useless junk.

Stopping in mid dig, he looks up at her for a moment in bewilderment, “Wait, did you just make a joke?”


	3. The commander, the princess, and the wartable

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Here comes the princess!... and I hate her. Less of her and more of Dalaina and Rina here, please! I will make the princess disappear just like magic. *stands and gestures like thanos* snap

“You MUST obey me! I am the Princess!” She stomped her feet three times and pouted. Seeing this have no effect, she changed tactics. “I am the future Queen! I do NOT care that you outrank me in this army, Commander. We WILL use MY battle plan.” The Princess of the Elves, Brittannah, yelled across the table at the commander of the army. She made sure to put extra emphasis on some of her words, in a vain attempt to hammer her point home.

The Commander, Nightbreeze, just stared dumbfounded for a moment at the Elf standing at the other side of the table from him. She had deep, dark Auburn Red hair; piercing Blue eyes, and very pale skin. Her skin was even more pale than a Moon Elf and they never saw the sun at all. If he did not know better, he would think she was one. However, her paleness stemmed from a life of luxury. Years of sitting on your butt playing with your trinkets and ordering others around would do that to you, he thought.

From the time that she had strutted into the room, he knew she was going to be trouble. Then again, she always was nothing but trouble. Standing at just over 4’5”, she still seemed to fill the entire room. Although she was skinny and frail from years of being spoiled and pampered, her ego could fill the Great Hall where all of Fae'Kind met just by itself.

Brittannah always made a point to make an over the top entrance. This time had been no different. She caught everyone's attention by throwing open the double doors and pausing dramatically. She stood there taking in the people that were there, and forcing them to turn their attention to her before she would move.

She swayed her hips in just the perfect way to make sure everyone noticed her new dress. It was a low, square cut front, with just enough lace intended to entice the eye instead of covering up skin. It was Black satin that was beaded extensively with Gold colored, expensive, and unnecessarily large trim. It had an over the top spiky whisk, that stood well above her head. The final touches were theatrically enormous neck and wrist ruffs.

Her hair was piled up on top of her head in an ornate and overtly ridiculous manner. She had studded earrings made with precious Elven Orbs. No less than six necklaces hung from her neck. Each one was made with Elven Orbs, Fairy Dust, and other magical items hung to adorn it. Resting upon her arms was a White Tiger pelt shawl that she swished back and forth like a human 1920's flapper. Her outfit would put even the most extravagant of human royalty to shame.  
Her eyes had wandered, taking in the suits of armor of past and present war heroes that lined the room. Without asking, she had strutted over like the most glorious Spotted Hyena in the land to the strategy table. She took off her Black and Gold glittered mask; with huge Peacock feathers sticking out from the top; and studied the battle plans intently. She had no clue what she was looking at, but that would not stop her from acting like the Queen of Sheba.

The commander had the layout set up just so. He had placed a map of their territory and the Drow territory. Their territory was actually separate from the other tribes and clans, although technically it was the Winterstorm territory now due to the bloodlines of the current royalty. The Moon tribe territory was stuck in the middle of theirs and the Drow. His second-in-command was from there and he knew it well.   
Although the Drow typically lived underground, they had been coming above ground and stealing areas from other clans themselves. Although they were rarely acknowledge as part of the Elves, they nevertheless had claimed territory aboveground by using guerilla tactics and an unknown spy network. They were depicted as being born as soulless monsters, although Nightbreeze had good reason to believe that they had been forced to be that way.

There was another tribe on the other side that the Drow had been bleeding into: The Wood Elves. The Wood Elves were the first and most affected by the magic loss due to the positioning of the land. They had been losing grounds from the Drow and the barrier they were terrified of lay on the other side. Their share of the map was barely noticeable. 

On the map, there were little figures that he had his best friend make for him. Jumble, the Dwarf King, was a mighty warrior but had a secret passion for making them. His figurines were clear cut crystal from the mines and absolutely priceless. They were so lifelike that looking at them, one would almost expect them to move. In the age of magic, they probably would have. Jumble had given them to the Commander as a peace offering after the Great War. Nightbreeze had gratefully accepted them, recognizing the magnificent gift that was made with so much care. Each one had an obviously pristine attention to detail.

Their friendship was kept secret these days, due to the ban on mixing of the races. If anyone asked he would simply say that he had stolen the figurines. No one would ever believe the commander of the army of Elves would have killed a clan of Dwarves to get them, as such a feat was impossible. They would believe he could have snuck them out. The truth, that it was a gift, was even more unbelievable than taking on that army of Dwarves.   
Nightbreeze was one of only four people presumably left alive that would even remember a time when everyone didn't hate each other. To fight together, let alone to be friends with each other, was unheard of. Thus, he did not speak of it. As for Jumble, that Dwarves were not well known for their sociability is an understatement. It was more likely that Nightbreeze would fall in love with a mythical Dragon than for Jumble to go around talking to the Elves about it.

The commander had many friends like that. His ability to fight wasn’t the only reason he was in charge. If his people knew that he new them they would be shocked. Even more shocking to them would be who he used to know.

The table the map and figurines were on was well worn and decayed. It had been made by the Wood Clan. It once gleamed with pride of workmanship. Once, long ago, they had great tables made with their magic but even this was now becoming more legend than truth. The wood had long ago been infected by the magical rot of the trees by the barrier. Even wood that had been cut a long time ago was being affected for some unfathomable reason. Thus, the table was now deteriorated beyond recognition of any of its' former glory. It could barely be called a table anymore. 

They had nothing else to put it on. Even the rich were being affected by this blight. You would never have guessed it by looking at the Princess of the Elves. It was possible that the Queen would show it, but she had locked herself in her room to not be seen by anyone but her daughter for so long that no one had any idea what she looked like now.

Suddenly, Brittannah had thrown her arm out, scattering the scale battlefield, and proclaiming they must use her battle strategy. She was prone to fits of rage, and Commander Nightbreeze has had to deal with this on more than one occasion. He shouldn't be so surprised by her outbursts at this point, but it was always like walking over a thin sheet of ice. One wrong move and you’re neck deep in icy water.

The Commander stared at her in awe for a moment longer, gathering his thoughts; he calmly picks up the pieces... I have to take care of every mess and fix every little problem. This stupid child is so spoiled and out of her element. You would think an old man like me wouldn’t be stuck doing such menial tasks, but alas, that is my lot in life.

Never had a subordinate spoken to him in such a way, nor would any try. Technically, by tradition she outranked him as the Princess, but known only to the military superiors and advisers she was merely a figurehead... with the Commander as the true power of the military. Commander Nightbreeze was a force to be reckoned with. He was the tallest recognized living Elf, standing at a staggering 5’0”. His second was taller, but unrecognized because of her clan. Nightbreeze wore his Silver hair in braids that fell down his back, the tips just barely above the floor. He had tattoos on his face that marked him not only as the highest in command of the army, but also as a hero.

He was a seasoned, battle hardened warrior with a suit of armor of his own placed along the wall not far from where they stood; and along with the tattoos, had the scars to prove it. Even to human standards, he was very muscular; the kind of muscles that only can be achieved by a thousand years of vigorous weapons training. His skin was the darkest of them all, tanned and weathered from all the years in the sun. As the oldest known living Elf, he was also the adviser for his people. He was not about to let her get away with insulting him.

As he straightened his back he put the last piece of the battlefield miniatures on the table and launched into a lecture, “I do not care who you are, CHILD,” he said, putting his hands on the table while making a point to insult her. “I will not risk the lives of my army just to stroke your ego. In fact, you were not invited to this meeting, and have no right to be here. Leave, now!”

“NO! You cannot order me around like this.” She points her wagging finger angrily at him, “I will not stand for it.” She stomps her foot like a petulant child. “I give the orders, and you carry them out. Now, this is what we are going to do, whether you like it or not.”

Thinking she had ended the argument, she starts moving the battle pieces around and explaining her plan. At the wave of Commander Nightbreeze’s hand, the others in the room departed quietly.

“We both know who will win this, and little girl, you know it won’t be you.” He stood up to his full height with his chest out, and gave her an intimidating look, daring her to go against him openly again.

Letting out an exasperated breath, Brittannah attempts yet another tactic to get the commander to use her plan, “I have studied the battles from the Great War, and all that we have on battle strategy. I know exactly what I am doing. There is no one better than I at battle plans; my War Tactics tutors say so.” She said, beaming with pride as she squared her shoulders and lifted her chin.

“Did it ever occur to you, that your tutors say so for fear you will order their execution if they do not? Especially since you have executed three of your previous War Tactics tutors, and you only just started studying War Tactics a few months ago. I fought in the Great War. I learned everything I know from actually being in a battle. You may think you have the book smarts, but you have no real world experience.” Nightbreeze criticized.

“Furthermore, the Drow Clan would decimate us with the strategy you have planned, and further terrorize our citizens. It is bad form to put an inexperienced soldier in charge of battle strategy, and you know it is also against our laws. Even you cannot break them.” He then said under his breath, “You do not have half the talent that Lady Cynthia had.”

“What did you just say? You know speaking of her is treason. I will let it go this time, but NEVER do it again or I will have you executed. Lady Cynthia was a talentless hag who deserved what she got! My mother destroyed her reign very easily and took over the castle in no time. Some feat to run like a coward from a fight. She brought shame to us all and I will hear no more of it!” Uncharacteristic of an Elf, Brittannah seemed to be almost foaming at the mouth from rage. “So what if I started my tutoring late? I have advanced through it quickly and am already onto the third year studies!”

Commander Nightbreeze smiled, now knowing exactly which buttons to push with the unbearably nasty little Princess. “Let it go? My dear, if you ordered my execution, you would fast have a riot on your hands. Try another strategy with me, empty threats will not work, and are beneath even you.” Brittannah's eyes flash with fear as she backs down. “furthermore, was it not the traitor soldier guard that killed Cynthia? Was it not him that killed his own father that allowed your mother to take the spot? From the way you say it, it's like your mother planned the coup.” She backed away from him and shed crocodile tears. Satisfied that he had won another round, he places the pieces of the battle board back to their original standpoint.

Sheepishly, hoping to distract Nightbreeze she replies, “There is one more thing that I need to discuss with you. It is a matter of utter importance, and must not leave this room. Can I trust you to help me or will I need to find aid elsewhere?”

“Of course you can trust me, m'lady.” He says eyeing her cautiously, “I have never once gone against our great nation.” His voice became laced with suspicion. “Why must this conversation be secret?”

Being as dramatic as possible, Brittannah leaned forward and stage whispered to Nightbreeze, “Well, it is about Rina. I fear that she has been corrupted.’

Nightbreeze recoils in shock at this accusation. Rina Moon was the last name he expected to hear. 

Brittannah leans forward more towards Nightbreeze until their noses were almost touching. Nightbreeze backed away, uncomfortable with the entire conversation.

“My spies tell me that she is in fact the traitor. She is the one that has sold all of our secrets and the missing items to the Fairies and to the humans.” Brittannah holds up her hand to stop him before he could speak a word, “I know what you must be thinking, 'but she is such an honorable Elf.' It is all cover. She worked her way up the ranks in order to learn the most valuable information. She was a plant from the start.”  
The Commander stares at her incredulous, not knowing what to say.

“You know her background with the bad magic; it always seemed odd that she would join the army after being left to be raised by strangers. Scandalous.”

“But, she was taken in by a good family...” He protested. Brittannah glares at him, and he finishes with gritted teeth, “M'lady.”

“Yes, she was eventually taken in by a good family...” She starts.

“Eventually? She couldn’t have been more than a month old.” He tried to protest again.

Brittannah smug as always, continued on her ‘conspiracy’ as if he hadn’t interrupted. “But beginnings make a person, and as you know, hers are unsavory. She is a thief of the royal treasury, and even of your own. She must be executed.” Dumbfounded by all she had said, the commander stands speechless again for another moment, which was unusual for him.

Nightbreeze looks back to the spot that had been chosen for Rina’s armor, right next to his. The Commander took notice that the dragonhide scabbard he still occasionally used was missing from his armor stand, replaced with a cheap imitation.

Pressing her advantage, Brittannah continued, “I would like for you to deploy your best assassins. She is to be their only concern. She has been charged and convicted of treason against the crown. It must be done before the battle I planned starts tomorrow.”

Shocked by this, the commander misses for a moment that she had said 'the battle I planned'. He does not know what to think about what he has just been told. There is no way that all that the Princess was claiming to be true could have slipped past him. Rina was officially his second in command, and more honor bound then he was. Origins do not make the person, as he well knew, but how could he prove that? There had to be some mistake.

“You’re sure about this?” Was all he could muster to say.

“Positive.” Brittannah said, appearing to be downcast from having to deliver the news.

“Have you talked with her? Have you asked her if the rumors were true? I do not quite believe that she would betray her own kind in such a way.” Nightbreeze said, still trying to wrap his head around what had just been dumped upon him, and trying to find a way out of the position the greedy Princess was throwing him into.  
“We asked her if she knew anything about a traitor and she denied it, but the evidence was extensive. There is nothing that can be done about it now.” Brittannah said and gave Nightbreeze an almost apologetic smile.

On the other hand, was the smile meant for something else? Nightbreeze could not quite tell, but he was suspicious of everything that was transpiring. “I will question her myself. Thank you for bringing this to my attention.” He said. Nightbreeze was not fooled for one minute, but if he did not at least pretend to play along, he might not be able to do anything to help Rina if the Princess was sincere in her wanting to execute her.

“Bringing what to your attention, Commander? Hello, Princess, it is wonderful to see you, I hope things are going as planned for the battle tomorrow.” The newest addition to the room said as she bowed to Nightbreeze and then the Princess. The Princess did not bow back, and just stared at Rina with barely concealed hatred to the top of Rina’s head. The moment Rina stood back up, she went back to her usual syrupy fake sweet smile.

Commander Nightbreeze snapped his attention from Brittannah to the 5’3” Elf that was bowing to the person that wanted her dead. Her gloves were made of hardened cloth that was steady and strong. It went between each finger to keep a firm grip on her weapons. They were fully closed off to just below her elbows. After that there was a split that ran off to her shoulderblades. This was designed to keep the joints free for easier movements. The top of her dress had a high round cut that looped into the detachable gloves. The skirt of the dress was free flowing with a high slit for ease of movement. The ensemble was a deep and dark Blue, the color of the sky just before midnight. Her metallic warrior bracelets placed on top of the gloves completed the outfit perfectly. It was the outfit of a woman, yet that of one that needed all their limbs free to fight at a moment's notice. It fit her perfectly. She had long braided blond hair, perfect Forest Green eyes, and Olive colored skin from all the time in the sun. Such a beautiful being would be such a waste to destroy. Had he been younger, he may have loosened a tear at the thought. The Commander was too busy staring at Rina and remembering how she came to be so important to the nation, and indeed to him, to notice the look that Brittannah had given her.

Rina had worked her way up the ranks quickly from her unyielding desire to show that she did not have bad magic, and that she was an Elf through and through. Promotions came one after the other, since the time that she had joined the army. This was unusual since she had yet to have her coming of age. Each promotion came on the heels of a great heroic deed that she had done. The first promotion was for refusing to kill the children from a rival clan. She fought off over half of the Elves she had fought side by side with during the battle. Her actions inadvertently brought lasting peace to the two clans.

It had taken almost three full days for Commander Nightbreeze to show up on the scene. Rina fought the entire time, never sleeping, never eating, and not even pausing to take a drink of water, remaining between the children and her comrades. It was at that moment that he knew that this child Elf was going to one day be a great commander.

If only this child was going to be the one on the throne and not the snotty little brat that had kept me from the call for aid for so long, he had thought upon reaching the battlegrounds. The Commander would have been there sooner, had Brittannah not disappeared the day the request for help came in. The Queen had ordered everyone to search for her missing daughter, and no one was able to enter or leave the city until she had been found.

By the middle of the second day, they had found her: she had gotten herself locked in the vault. Her reasons for being in there to begin with: she wanted to look at and touch all of her jewels. When Commander Nightbreeze had opened the door, Brittannah was throwing a fit, screaming that some of her pretties were missing and had been stolen. It took Nightbreeze a few hours to calm her down. By that time, nearly all of the most valuable and precious items had been destroyed. Many were beyond repair, and the rest took years to sort out and fix.

Many a mouth whispered in anger from that night on about their hatred of the Princess. Brittannah’s cousin Shania had been the loudest, speaking out about the usurpation of Cynthia, the jewels, and unnecessary battles being waged by the new Queen; all leading to Shania’s banishment from the Winterstorm lands. Brittannah had even gone so far as to try to change the name of their clan, wanting something more fitting for the new Princess and trying to get the mind of the people away from Cynthia and her sympathizers. Being arrogant and spoiled is forgivable for a royal member, but to cause such a panic by being greedy was not the Elven way.

When he arrived to the battlefield, the young Rina was nearly dead from exhaustion, and still refusing to give up. Nightbreeze ordered the group to put down their weapons. Still she refused, saying with a barely audible hoarse voice, that she would only lay down her weapon if the children would be guaranteed safety. She would keep fighting for them or return to the Earth trying.  
At this, Commander Nightbreeze had laughed, stating that of course, the children would be safe, and where would she get the idea that harm would come to the children? Hesitantly, she dropped her defensive stance, and said that the officer in charge had ordered them to kill ALL who were in the village. Seething in rage from such an atrocity, the Officer in charge did not even have a chance to respond before Commander Nightbreeze sent him to the fate he ordered of the innocent. After turning back, he saw the exhausted Rina had collapsed and was unconscious.

The memory faded as Brittannah finally spoke to Rina, who was waiting respectfully for the Princess to speak first. “Oh, it is nothing of your concern, Rina; we were just discussing the traitor that had been discovered among our ranks. I cannot fathom to think why someone would dishonor themselves and their family like this. Nevertheless, I must take my leave; I have many things to do before tomorrow. Commander …” She glanced at Nightbreeze in such an obvious way that even a blind man could see something was up. Then she nodded at Rina. “Rina...” With that, Brittannah fled from the room.

Trying to ignore the obvious secret communication between the two, and the obvious slight at only being nodded to and not being bowed to as befitting to her high ranking as second of the command of the army, Rina turned to Nightbreeze and asked, “Commander, you summoned me?”

“Yes, I wanted your opinion about the battle tomorrow. It seems as though we are unable to decide which tactic to use. You have one of the most brilliant battle strategy minds; I thought that you would be of some use.” Nightbreeze inquired loud enough for Brittannah to hear from the doorway.

He was trying to show the Princess that Rina was valuable as a strategist, but had missed where Brittannah had proclaimed they were going to use the battle she had planned. If he had caught it, he might have known this was the worst possible tactic to use, and could have prevented the terrible consequences just around the corner.

“Well, I think that we should outflank the opposition. They outnumber us almost 3 to one; we need to gain the high ground. A head on attack will fail, and we will lose too much of the army.” Rina stated simply.  
At that, Brittannah; who had been listening closely just outside the door; rushed back in and over to the pair. “I told you that we are going to use my plan. We will attack head on, my sources show that their numbers are half what we have. There is no point to splitting up when it is not necessary.”

“With all due respect, Princess, your sources are wrong. I have seen their numbers for myself; in fact, I just got back from scouting out their position. If we do not move into position tonight, we will lose the opportunity and the battle tomorrow.” Rina reported directly and without malice, trying still to be diplomatic and respectful despite the obvious disrespect that she was receiving.

Brittannah refused to believe her, and before anyone could react, she had backhanded Rina so hard that she fell to the floor. Holding her face, she gaped at Brittannah. “Why?” Rina stared at Brittannah in utter confusion. As disrespectful as she had been, she never imagined even the Princess would go that far. 

Attacking a high ranking officer was just as treasonous as hitting a member of the royal family.

“Do not EVER argue with me, Troll. I command everything, and I command who lives and who dies. We know you are the traitor, and you will be treated as such. I have already made arrangements. You will be dead by dawn. ”

With this, Commander Nightbreeze hit a completely new level of rage.


	4. The thief

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Our four heroes finally meet at the end of this chapter. And it goes so well/s also, I had noticed most fairy tales had an all white cast. This will not be the case here. 3 of the 4 heroes are POC. But I had to come up with a way for there to be a reason for the other stories, so I chose to go with the science that says melanin and pigmentation happened because of the intensity of the sun. Therefor, the characters that spent centuries in the sun would obviously be darker. Hopefully, this makes sense. If you have a suggestion on another way I could make this fairytale twist let me know in the comments. Enjoy!

There was an old house in the middle of the Trixster Fairy village. The block itself was fairly upscale, as this was one of the last sections hit by the pixie dust shortage. In this village, the old house stood out from the others. The house was well kept and the cleanest one there. It had the only flower and herb gardens on the block. However, it was clearly not maintained by a family that was well-off anymore. The paint was cheap, and the roof had been thatched with cheaper materials. It was clear from looking at it, that it once belonged to a well-off family that was still trying to keep up appearances with no money to do so. 

In that house, lived a large family. The matriarch was Trixie Sr. Trixie walked into her empty kitchen while wondering to herself, how am I going to feed nine...no, eight mouths today? My job does not pay enough. Zacharias isn’t working enough to keep food on the table, and it isn’t his responsibility. If only Nicholias...Tobias... had not left. He was just as his father was... before he left all those years ago. He always found some way to do it, and I wish I knew how. It’s funny just how alike the two were.

She paused with her hand sitting on the edge of the kitchen counter, in front of the kitchen cabinets. She ran a hand through her short Brownish-Black hair. Then she put her hand on her ample hips, contemplating the state of her family's situation.

Trixie Junior and Nixie, the second and third oldest of her children, were old enough to take care of themselves now but neither had had any luck finding a job in the magical shortage. Her three oldest had all been born within just two hundred years of each other, a feat almost unheard of. Trixie guessed that it stemmed from her healing ability, or maybe it was one of her children's innate magic abilities that changed her physiology for a short period of time.

Trixie Jr.’s talent was for blending magic. The problem was, it was magic that already existed that she could blend. In their current society, where the magic available was very scarce, there was no job to be had for it. If she had been born in a different time, when magic was abundant, she would have been able to rise to nobility status quite easily. Their family was once there, but fell to poverty just after her eldest had come of age. This hurt her mother more than Trixie Jr. could ever imagine. Trixie knew exactly what things would be like for her daughter if she had come just a hundred years earlier. Trixie Jr. had seen so very little of that world, and knew little of what she was missing.

Nixie was within the age range of their societies coming of age, but had yet to manifest any powers. That was unusual for their people. Typically, at least signs of what their future power would be would show up. Nixie had been showing signs of having Cifra, a magical deficiency disease. For the equivalent of a 20 year old human girl, she was very delicate and fragile. It was unlikely she would ever work in any kind of hard labor.

The first set of twins, Zacharias and Leonidias, were still 50 years from the average age for maturity. Zacharias had managed to find grunt work, and Leonidias was still frantically looking. It was only after their father had left that the children that could work had to find a job. It wasn't out of the norm for those that hadn't hit their coming of age to work if they were close enough to fulfillment. This was the equivalent of a 15 or 16 year old joining the workforce in human society.

Dixie and Bixie, the second set of twins, and Frank were the babies of the family. They still had far more than a century and a century and a half, respectively, to go. They were far too young to be eligible for work yet.  
They were lucky that two of them in the family had a job, even if one of the jobs was part time. Once, before the great war, Trixie was the greatest healer. She was known throughout the kingdoms to have the strongest ability. She had steady work for many years later with the skirmishes that left many wounded. She even helped the Elves in ‘secret’ by which only the royal family and her guards ever knew what she was doing.  
When the Elven Queen fell, Trixie stayed on with them and kept healing. She kept her mouth shut to outsiders, and never told anyone her own suspicions on what had happened that night, so she was determined not a threat. She helped the refugees as much as she could. She became their eyes and ears, until her magic ran out and she too was ran from the palace. Her family then came to this small section of Trickster Fairies. The community was an old one, that remembered her deeds and welcomed her in.

When she found out she was pregnant with Frank was the same time that the healing magic started dying down too. The Elves fought more with each other, and the magic dust began to noticeably become much smaller for use as payment.

Fearing for their lives and with little money, the Elves would not come to her anymore, and she could no longer afford to travel to them. The Fairies didn't want any trouble with the royal family that had been so volatile for the last two millenniums. Her magic and her money were almost non-existent at the same time. Some of it did eventually return to her, but by then word had spread too much.

With her husband there the family could have made it, but he left right after Frank was born, never to return. Nobody had any idea what happened to him. If they did, they certainly didn't speak up about it. The shortage hit the Elves hard, causing them to not procreate almost at all, so Trixie and her family were one of the few large families left alive in all the Fairy lands.

Trixie had no other skills or relevant experience to do something else, and no one would take her. Especially, not someone that had worked for both sets of royalty. They wouldn't dare have their own fortunes be so drastically changed.

Sighing, she opened up the cabinet to take out the last of the cheap instant breakfast. Not looking, for she did not want to see the barren shelves, she grabbed the box and pulled it out. As she was closing the cabinet door, the box dropped from her hand, spilling over the broken but clean floor. Out of the corner of her eye, she had seen the cupboard was stocked full of food.  
She turned slowly; still half-asleep and thinking she was dreaming. Halfway across the room she noticed that the fruit bowl on the table was overflowing and one of the twins, Zacharias, walked into the kitchen holding her youngest, Frank. As the youngest, Frank was the only one that didn’t get the lyrical rhyming names common among Fairies, because Trixie senior had ran out of boy names. Bixie had been a stretch for a girl’s name for her as well.

Zacharias was short for a Fairy and stocky, like his mother and most of his siblings, with their dark-brown hair and light blue eyes. Frank looked very much like his father and Tobias did, with black hair and red eyes. Trixie Jr. had gotten the strange mixing of both her parents, which resulted in her eyes being the only ones of their kind. Trixie suspected this was also a sign of her inherent magic.

Even for the equivalent of a five-year-old child, Frank looked more like he was a two-year-old and still had the emotional maturity of one. Frank was holding onto a box of cookies and happily chewing away at one. Trixie’s mouth dropped open, and she ran out into the garden. This set off the ward that warned of any magical creatures entering or exiting the house that she placed before she had gone to bed. In her race she had forgotten all about it.

The alarm blared waking the whole neighborhood. Trixie turned in place looking around frantically for the son who had disappeared in the middle of the night a year before. “Nicholias! Nicholias, please come home! Nicholias!” She yelled at the predawn sky.

“He is gone. Probably dead! Get over it Trixie, and go back to sleep!” A neighbor yelled back.

“Mother, Tobias came again last night didn’t he?” Zacharias asked from the door.

“Yes. Yes, he did. I only wish he would come home.” She choked on tears. “He did not need to leave. And, his name is NOT Tobias, it is Nicholias. It is the name that your father and I chose for him.” Trixie responded as she sniffled.

“It is not what he likes to be called, not after father left us.” Zacharias turned and entered the house.

“Zacharias, turn off that alarm!” Another neighbor yelled.

Trixie looked around one more time hoping to see Tobias, but knowing that he was long gone. She sighed, and went back inside. She turned off the ward alarm as she passed through the door. From his vantage point, Tobias could see his brothers and sisters getting a long awaited real meal. He put away the magical device in his hands that allowed him to hear everything going on, even the thoughts of his mother. He would have dropped the food off days ago for his family, had he not been chased by a shopkeeper and the city guards.

“I love you, Máthair...” He whispered the formal word for mother in Celtic with tears in his eyes. “I never meant to break your heart.”

Quickly shaking the tears away, he moved from behind the chimney. He jumped down from the roof and landed on the ground a few blocks away from the house. Usually he was better about not being caught and this morning had been close. Trixie Jr. had woken up early to get a drink of water from the kitchen, and Tobias wasn’t sure if she had seen him. Smiling to himself as he walks down the street away from his former home, Teeny Tiny Trix, he thought affectionately of the sister he only beat by 50 years. I really need to stop by more often.

“Hey! Hey, Troll! What are you doing here?” A man yells down from down the street.

Tobias turned around to see whom the man was yelling at, hoping it wasn’t him. How many more Fae'Kind exiles would be here? He thought darkly to himself. Of course they mean me when they say Troll. They wouldn’t mean an upright citizen! After all, ‘Trolls’ live under bridges and are the scourge of society. Why, your arm might fall off by looking at one! I must have left my skin too dark again.

Fairies typically had a slightly darker skin tone than the Elves did. Fairies tended to play around in the sun too much, while the Elves tended to prefer the moon, especially the well-known Moon Clan Elves. The only darker skinned people tended to be the Drow that lived underground while hardly ever came into the upper layers of the lands (he could never quite figure out how they were dark as they never saw the sun) the military members of the Fae'Kind, and the Sun Clan Elves.  
Since he had nearly black skin, it was not hard to see him for what he was. Alternatively, he could be a sun Elf, but that was considered almost as bad as a Troll was. God knows what a Dwarf would look like. Trying to play the innocent bystander, he looks around with wide eyes as though he was afraid of where the Troll might be. The shopkeeper,who he had only ever known as Mr. Jenkins, points at him. He yells again, “Troll! Troll in the City!” 

The likelihood of him being recognized for his clothing alone would have been low. He wore a dark gray outfit from head to toe. His jeans and long sleeve shirt were not out of the ordinary for fall attire. He wore a gray hat that complimented the leather jacket he wore. In a town were modern attire had overtaken the former glitz and glamor of old, he would blend right in with the population. He dressed like this for that exact reason. The only explanation had to be his face and hands peeking out from his clothes. Mr. Jenkins had probably not recognized the face he once knew so well, but he sure recognized a dark skinned male walking around in the wee hours of the morning. He sighed, but accepted it. It was kind of sad how used to the prejudice he had gotten. These people would never allow a ‘Troll’ to walk among them. 

Tobias takes off running away from the man as the authorities come barreling toward him. Hearing their footsteps closing in on him, he pushes himself harder. Turning down the next street, near an alleyway, he turns back to see if they are still following him. Seeing nothing, he thinks that he got away, slowing his pace. He turns yet again and starts his way back to the abandoned shop where he was staying. If I can just get a moment to rest, I can Glamour myself.

“There he is!” One of the guards yells.

“Suck a Troll!” He swears and takes off running again. He knew the streets better than anyone in the city and knew where he could go to hide. It was only after running a few minutes he realized he had used the term people used against him. Habits die hard. He supposed it didn’t matter if he used the term, as he didn’t really live under a bridge or any of the other things Trolls were said to do. He shrugged, and thought that he would use it anyway.

It took him a few minutes to get around without being seen. It was unsafe to do glamours while running. Magic had become so scarce even a simple glamour took more than the mere seconds it used to take. Catching his breath, Tobias sits in the cramped gap between two houses. Every time he thought he was safe another guard passed by. By nightfall he was hungry and wasn’t sure if he was going to be able to walk with the cramps in his legs. He waited until he hadn’t seen a guard in twenty minutes before he changed his appearance, just in case. The simple glamour took more than 10 times the energy it took just last year. Exhausted, he sits for most of the day resting. He was lucky in that once he had a glamour on, it took very little energy to stay that way. Now that it had been a few hours since the last guard had passed by now, and he could safely return to his 'home,' if you could call it that.

Tobias took the time to think about what to do on his way home. By the time he had reached the shop, he had made a decision. He had to leave the city for good. It was too dangerous now, he could not let anyone find out the place where he had taken nearly all the food he had stolen. He had been spotted being careless, and even with a glamour on someone might figure out why someone would be looking at that particular house all the time. He knew that if anyone found out who he was and that he had been sneaking into the city to give food to his family; them being taken into custody and possible exiling was a likely outcome.

Sighing, he packed up everything he could. Making sure he still had up his glamour, he left the shop. Before leaving town, he stopped near his family’s house one last time. Taking a different perch this time on the roof of a house a few blocks down, he settled in to wait for them all to fall asleep. He double-checked his listening device, to see if anyone was awake.   
Passing thoughts of various dreams were all he heard. Everyone must be asleep. He enjoyed seeing his family. All his brothers and sisters were getting so big. Some were already adults and others close to adulthood. He hoped the passage into adulthood would come easier for the rest than it did for himself, and that they would be able to find a legitimate job. The only jobs a ‘child’ could get were low paying and temporary. He made sure to be seen by no one on his way to the house of his childhood, and to bypass the magical alarm in his own secret way that he would rather die than tell. He wrote out a note and left it on his mother’s bedside table. He kissed each member of his family on the forehead, so light it could have been a whisper in the wind, and made his way to leave.

“Tobias. Where are you going?” A familiar voice asked. Tobias jumped a little into the air, completely taken aback and unused to people taking him by surprise. How did she??? Sneaking up on people was my job, he thought. I thought she was asleep.

“Trix!” He exclaimed his childhood nickname for her as he turned around to see his younger sister. Her beautiful raven colored long hair was pulled up on her head, with tendrils hanging down from sleeping. She wore a ragged blue dress and rubbed sleep from her unusual electric Lilac colored eyes.

“You haven't called me that since we were both children. I forgot about that name.” She nodded to herself. “I like it. I'll keep it if you stay.” Trixie Jr. Said. She new it was emotional manipulation, but she was desperate to keep her brother around. He was her best friend, and her only confidante. At least, he was before he was banished. She would even lick a Toadstool if she thought it would bring him back. He might have been labeled a Troll, but he was still her brother.

“Go BACK to bed. I need to leave. I won’t be able to bring any more food. So, make sure that you guys don’t eat it all too quickly.” Tobias said.

She stared at him sleepily. “Why can't you come back?” She asked. “They can eat Pixie Dust for all I care.” She interrupted before he could tell her once again that the rest of the community, even being poor dust miners, would not allow it.

He looked around, making sure they were still alone, “Don’t tell anyone that I was here. Please, Trix!” Tobias begged turning to leave.

Trix decided she liked the way that he was continuing to call her that, and decided to keep it after all.   
Relenting, Trix agreed, “Okay, Tobias, I won’t tell anyone, but you need to make me a promise.”

“And what would that be?” He asked, crossing his arms and feigning impatience.

“Give me a way to get a hold of you if something happens. Promise me that if it does, that you will come back.” He raised an eyebrow, and she rushed forward, explaining, “Frank isn’t growing like he should. Nixie still hasn’t manifested the way she should, we are almost positive she has the magical deficiency disease. You know, Cifra?” She clarified to his confused look. He started to look a bit green and she pushed forward. “Bixie has been getting sick lately too, she might have Cifra just like Nixie. We haven't told mother yet, because she is already dealing with so much already. We are your family, and we are dying out here. Tobias, Please!” Trix pleaded, “Give me a way to reach you.”

“Trix, you know I can’t do that...” Tobias started.

“Tobias, if you don’t agree to this, I will wake the whole house!” Trix threatened, putting her hands on her hips, and looking very much like her mother in that moment.

“Okay, Okay... Toadstools.” He whispered the last part so low she did not catch it. “I got some dust here you can give to Bixie, Nixie and Frank.” He handed her a small sack with more Fairy dust than most had seen in decades.

“How did you get dust, and so much of it?” Trix asked incredulously.

“Never-mind that, I do have something I can contact you with. Here, take this. It is one of a pair of mirrors, tap this corner three times and say my name. You will be able to reach me.” Tobias handed her the mirror, and showed her the right lower corner to tap.

“You must hide this and never show it to anyone outside the family. You must swear to me with your unbreakable promise that none of you will ever speak of it outside this house or to show it to any strangers unless your lives are in danger and you have no choice.” He looked at her intensely, making sure she understood just how serious the matter was. “I will no  
t have any of you killed for consorting with a Troll.”

Trix’s eyes misted. “You’re not a Troll.” She sniffed at him.

“Promise me.” He urged.

“Okay, I promise no one in this house will speak of any of this to outsiders unless our lives are in danger and we have no choice.” She recited, reluctantly; with her arms crossed over her heart like an x. “I make this unbreakable vow. If I shall break this vow I bring dishonor and disloyalty to myself, my family, and my whole clan.” She reached out for the mirror and put her hand over his, and stared into his eyes as though she was trying to decipher the meaning of the universe in them.

“Good girl.” Tobias and Trix smiled weakly at each other, and after a few awkward seconds of Trix sniffling and Tobias holding onto her hand as he held out the mirror, they hugged.

Tobias then tried to smile like he used to when he was just a carefree Trickster Fairy, but he failed. He wished that he could tell her the truth about how he got the dust and mirror, but he couldn’t. The anger and hurt that would envelop Trix’s eyes would surely kill him more than the knowledge of stealing and lying did. He turned and went to leave the room.

Before he got far he heard her whisper in a strange choked voice “You must find them, it is your only chance.” He turned to ask her what she meant but she had used her speed to already be up the stairs, and he did not have any more time to hang around. It was something very cryptic, but it was probably just another instance of stray magic hitting her. Her mostly untrained ability caused it to come out with something that made no sense. Even if she was aware of saying it, she probably had no idea what it meant anyway. He turned back to walk through the door and left without looking back again, for fear if he did he would surely not be able to leave again. Unknown to him, Trix came back down.

Trix stood in the kitchen staring at the door that Tobias left through. She, like everyone else, missed Tobias. He had changed. He wasn’t the happy, outgoing Fairy that she once knew. Whatever has happened to him over the last fifty years had really changed him. Sure, he was exiled but that had never stopped him before. Maybe he was just tired of all the secrets and lies.

The Trickster Fairy Clan liked pranks, but they didn’t like outright lies and deceptions. Once, they had laughed a lot, but after the depression of their land hit, very few Tricksters lived up to the name anymore. She didn’t even know what had gotten him exiled in the first place. It was all done in secret, and many claimed he was a spy for the Elves, but Trix had never believed it. Shaking her head, she walked back upstairs and went back to bed. Her last thought before falling asleep was wondering how he could get in and out of the house without setting off the alarm.

Tobias knew this was the last chance he would get to see the palace. He took the chance to see all the things that had been denied to him when he was young because he didn’t have the prestige. Now, as an outcast, he wasn’t even supposed to be in the city at all. After seeing the ‘rich’ side of the city, he sneaked into the palace. Tobias was in awe at the vastness of the halls, and rooms. Not paying attention to where he was going, he happened upon a door that was cracked open with hushed voices drifting into the hall.

“Your Majesty, is war the only option? I am sure that the Elves will see reason. They too have suffered because of the humans. They are likely to join us in eradicating the vermin,” A man said.

At this, Tobias paused. War, with the Elves? Skirmishes were one thing, but all-out war?

“Most of the Elves might want to be in an alliance with us against the humans, but I fear the Princess is gearing up for war. One of the cousins has been whispering in her ear while the Queen has been ill.” The voice of the King now whispered through the hallway.

“I heard the Princess has gone missing.” A third male voice entered the conversation.

“The Princess too? There are no other heirs that I am aware of, who will lead in the absence?” The King asked concern in his voice.

“The same might be said of you, my lord.” The third man said.

“I will live for many years yet, and I have no desire to bring up children in the battlefields of war, if indeed that is where it goes. I hope for all our sakes it doesn’t. The magic has been disappearing for far too long, and I fear the worst may happen if we use what little we have for war.” The King replied.

Tobias backed away upon hearing this. A war would be terrible indeed. He must find a way to stop this; his family was barely making it as it was with the shortage. He shuddered at the thought about how it would be after a brutal war. As he left the palace and headed for the dreaded barrier, he knew he had to do something.

I will go to the human realm and steal magic. There isn’t enough here for me to make enough of a difference. All the strong magic is too heavily guarded for even me to attempt such a steal. I must find enough to save my family. He stopped for a moment. I have to find enough to save everyone. They may have ostracized me, but that doesn’t mean they all have to die. Even if they did do it for stupid reasons. He kept thinking to himself of the time he had been blamed for the thievery that lead to a Fairy being captured by the Elves. I only stole things to feed and clothe my family. I would never do anything that could seriously harm anyone. He thought in disgust.

He reached the edge of the kingdoms, where the thinning barrier between the worlds still stood. He noticed the shimmer was still there but something felt off about it. He stepped far back from it, grabbed a pebble, threw it at the barrier, and ducked his head, expecting it to bounce back or explode. The pebble passed through without a problem.

Impossible, he thought, everyone knows about the barrier between the worlds. Wait... I shouldn’t have been able to find it this easy. The tales of the ways it can twist your mind to see other things, and how only the very strong or the very least unlucky can ever find or stumble across it, have been told since long before I was born. It was told even before my mother and her mother and her mother’s mother... Has the lack of magic in this world gotten so bad that even the barrier is being destroyed? I knew it was weakened, but not to this extent. I wonder if others know about this.

Looking back at the way he had come, he debated with himself on returning to the palace to tell the King about the too thin ‘barrier’. How long it had been that way was anyone's guess. It was only a matter of time before it completely disintegrated. Realizing that would mean his death, he decided against it and looked back at the barrier.

He warily eyed the shimmer. He wondered what was still keeping this up with the magical veil gone, and how long this would last. Would all of Fae'Kind wake up one day and find themselves in the middle of the human realm or vice versa? On the other hand, would they find themselves in a completely new place? Is the barrier simply a door between two worlds that are normally not connected? He had no answers, and he would find none standing there staring at the barrier.

There was only one thing to do. He must go through the barrier and find out what was going on. He had never been through the barrier, and had no idea what would lie on the other side. He had only traveled through portals and mounds. He had heard stories through his travels, of course, about the barbaric humans that destroyed everything they touched. They were said to be different from the humans that used to come over as consorts, slaves, pets and various other functions to their kind. The humans he knew had never been through the barrier, so maybe that made a difference.

It was said the veil changed the people, the more time they were over, the larger the change. He worried for a moment if the same would happen to him going to their side of the barrier. He wondered if the magical veil no longer being there would lessen the effect, or if it was just an old wives tale to keep people away. He wondered if the veil really ever existed. Then, he realized he was still staring at the barrier thinking, when he had decided to go through. Squaring his shoulders, he takes a few steps back. He takes off at a run. If he was going to do this, then he was going to commit fully. He rushed through the barrier, feeling only a slight sluggishness to his movements, much like a swimmer going through water.

After just moments, he popped out the other side, and right into someone. They crashed together and down to the rain slick ground. Their limbs entwined as each tried to gain balance or stop the fall. He ended up on top of the most beautiful woman he had ever seen. She was Blond, her skin was Olive colored and seemed to radiate youth and beauty. Her eyes were the color of his beloved forests. Her lips were... he was still sitting on top of her. He quickly stood up.

“I’m sorry, my lady, I did not mean to run into you.” He offered his hand to help her up.

He was tall and dark haired. He seemed to loom over Rina by a mile as she lay on the ground. He was darker than she was, and had obviously seen much more sun than she had. As a warrior always out on the field, that was saying a lot. Oh no, she thought horrified, he can’t be... He looked like he might be one of those Sun Fairies. “You ran into me on purpose, Fairy! Are you one of the scouts for the hunting parties?”

Surprised, he dropped his hand. “How did you know I was a Fairy?” He realized he still had his listening device attached to his ear, but kept it on to gather more information.

“I’ve seen enough Fairies in the field of battle to know what one looks like.” She replied with hostility.

“You, such a little thing? A warrior? I don’t believe it. What are you really doing here?” He asked with a wry little twist of his lips, as though he was trying not to laugh at something only he could hear. He looked down at the 'tiny' little woman, seeing her leather warrior gear and paused. She had head to toe protection and a sheath for a dagger. My kind of woman, he thought before he could stop himself.

“That’s a warrior's business, and none of yours.” She stood up, and came in front of him. He was extremely tall, even for a Fairy, coming in at well over 6 feet. He was almost at least a foot taller than she was and she had to look up very far to see his eyes. She was determined to look, however, and stared up at him regardless of the crick in her neck, standing her ground. “Are we going to have a problem?” She demanded sternly, with her hands on her hips.

He almost laughed at the gesture, reminding him of the female members of his family, then pretended to sigh and stepped back. He put his hands to mid height, with his arms straight out and towards her, with his palms facing towards her and then away and back again. This was the universal Fae'Kind gesture of peace, as it showed neither magical orb nor Fairy dust was being produced. The humans had a similar gesture with arms bent at the middle and palms just set outwards, but this was an insult in the Fae'Kind realm.

“I will not hurt you, little warrior woman.” He said patiently.

She rolled her eyes. “Of course you will not. I could beat you faster than a Troll can suck. And, I am not at all 'little.'” His lips pressed together, as he attempted again not to laugh. He hadn’t laughed at anything in a long time, but twice now, she had almost brought out the playful side in him that he thought he had long lost.

“In that case, lead the way, little warrior.” He said gesturing gallantly for her to go ahead of him.

“You are one strange giant Fairy. What makes you think I’m going with you?” Her hands still on her hips, the universal signal of all women from all realms that she was through putting up with games.

“Do you know where you’re going?” He asked, calmly. His question was met with silence. “You have no idea, do you?”

“I don’t see you coming up with any suggestions. What are you doing here anyway?” She demanded, crossing her arms.

“I believe I asked you that first. Besides, not knowing is half the fun.” Tobias said.

“A Fairy would think that.” Rina replied.

“Oh, come on now, none of that prejudice talk. We were getting along so well.” He sighed halfheartedly, clearly slightly amused by the whole exchange. She shook her head and started walking around, trying to see if she could feel for magic. She felt him, of course, but she was looking for magic to help the realm. She was not looking for magic that would be nothing but trouble. Like him. She mostly ignored him following her, and found a slight trace of magic. They looked at each other, Tobias shrugged and gestured for her to lead on, obviously intent to stay with her.

They walked in silence for a long time. Rina had begrudgingly gave a little bow back to him when he did the gesture at their delayed introduction, but felt like she should not be showing this clearly insane man any respect. Being together became more comfortable as time went on, even in complete silence. They were both a little surprised at this, but neither commented. It got dark soon, and she found a cave for them to rest in, feeling the magic nearby. As they were walking in, they suddenly heard a male voice echoing close by.

“You can’t catch me, I’m the gingerbread man!” The male voice said. Suddenly, running footsteps could be heard very close. Tobias just managed to push Rina out of the way when a man came crashing straight into him. Rina watched the all too familiar scene of tangled limbs, glad she wasn’t a part of this particular tangled mess, as that had been her just a few hours ago. Recovering from being pushed out of the way, she stood back with her hand on her weapon, ready to draw if they were hostile.

“You just can’t stop from running into people can you?” She asked rhetorically to Tobias on the ground. A woman came around the corner a half a second later, and a look of concern crossed her face when she saw the men on the floor, to be quickly replaced with a stoic face.

The new woman looked up at Rina. Surprised crossed both of their faces. The woman exclaimed, “Another Elf! I never thought I’d see another one of us here.”

“That’s great Dalaina, baby, but you think you could help us up?” The man on the floor asked.

Dalaina sighed and helped untangle the two men, as Rina stood back, still weary. The four stood with Rina and Tobias to one side, and the other man and Dalaina to the other.

“Well, this is fun and all, but I should break the ice.” He stepped forward and offered his hand. “Name’s Lucas Johnson, you can call me Luke. We’ve been following a trace of magic for a day, guess it was you we were following?”

Rina and Tobias just stared down at the hand for a moment. Dalaina said, “I think he wants you to spit in it and then put your hand in his and go up and down. That’s what I saw one of the other humans back in the city do.”

“We’ve only been in this realm for a few hours, not a day. Do I really have to spit in it? Well, if that’s the custom...” Tobias shrugged as he started to lean forward. He knew very well it wasn't, but it tickled the last bit of his funny bone to pretend to spit in the other person's hand.

Luke yanked his hand back just before Tobias could spit. “This is going to be a long night.”


	5. The Great Hall

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> I am so excited for this one! Instead of the bearded dwarves of every other fairytale these dwarves look like beautiful women! Haha. Love genderbends in retelling. And these dwarves have another surprise up their sleeve when they thunder in at the last second. Enjoy!

The Great Hall was filled with hundreds of Fae'Kind fluttering about. Whispered rumors circulated of Fairies and Elves being murdered by humans and even by each other. Distrust between the Fairies and Elves had been going on for far longer than anyone there could remember.  
To the Elves, the Fairies were a bunch of wild creatures with no thought to anyone outside themselves. To the Fairies, the Elves were stuck up snobs that had no idea how to have fun. Fairies liked to play tricks on the humans, while the Elves liked to observe them mostly.  
Long ago, the Fae'Kind had taken human lovers, but that had fallen out of fashion hundreds of years earlier. Thousands of children were lost to the humans and many more were abandoned in the hopes that their legacy would not be discovered. For a society that so loved their children, so few spoke up in public of their distaste. The Queen of the Fairies was the worst. The old one had welcomed humans with open arms. When her reign ended, the new one did what most new regimes did, they outlawed their policies and made it as though it was part of the culture all along. The Elven King was said to once have had a human wife but upon her death by other humans, wrote them off as barbarians.  
Now, all of Fae'Kind hated them. They all thought themselves above the humans. In the end, they were just like them with their politics, wars, and in fighting.  
As the citizens waited for their politicians and royalty to enter, the tension in the room was so thick it was like trying to cut through cement with a butter knife. As always, food sat on tables near the entrance, but no one was eating. Every time they met now, all of it went to waste. Everyone was far too busy trying to be inconspicuous while staring suspiciously at the other people to pay attention to the food.  
The Fairies stood together on the West side of the room, where normally they would divide themselves according to the people they associated the most with. They all considered themselves of the higher clan of what they simply called Fairies. Long ago they named themselves that as a derivative of Fae'Kind. Such was their arrogance.  
In functional society gatherings, they would separate into groups they were the most familiar with as tribes and clans had the things they each did best, and there was little to no competition between them for power. Although smaller clans did occasionally pop up, intermingling with different clans and tribes as a whole was more common. The smaller tribes of Pixies, Sprites and others belonging to the larger Trickster Clan Fairies would separate from the tribes of the Clan of Masquerade Fairies; Sealies would be separate from Leprechauns, and so on.  
As a consequence of them not fighting as much, they had much more power and influence on the kingdoms than the Elves did. This created much jealousy with the Elven clan and tribal leaders, and did not sit much better with the now desperate and desolate Elves. This was despite the fact that the Fairies were now also starting to feel the effects of the magical deficit. Only the poorest of them had felt it for a significant amount of time.  
The Elves were also standing together on the opposite side,to the East, where they too would normally divide themselves. Their divisions of clans were much more separate than that of the Fairies in normal circumstance. Although there were a few clans that had no individual tribes. The Drow Clan; which typically lived underground and not normally part of the recognized kingdom of the Elves; came up to the surface and joined the banquet hall. The Sun Clan was a tribe that was barely recognized as Elven until occasions such as this. The final exception was the Moon Clan. It is said that the greatest soldier in the last several centuries came from that clan, but as they were so lowly, even this was rarely recognized outside of the moments such as this. It was rumored that she was a traitor. It was said that they were too tall for an Elf anyway, and was probably a human spy. After she had ran from the Princess under suspicious circumstances, the Princess was so upset that she had taken ill. Thus, many of those that would have looked on with sympathy avoided eye contact altogether.  
Even with the great battle they had just fought with the Winterstorm Clan just a few days before, they all put aside their differences to come together for the greater good of the entire Elven race. Both the Fairy and Elf factions considered each other so dangerous, that the divisions between their own Clans and those of the typically unacknowledged members seemed to be the least of their worries. With their dwindling magic and their increasingly lower numbers, such mistakes could lead to the extinction of them all.  
The ceiling of the Great Hall towered over the heads of the 'guests.' Its’ great arches framed the figures below. It might have been built for giants or Titans. In the past, the hall was used frequently for celebrations and holidays. It had seen very little use in recent years, and the Hall showed the signs of neglect. The ceiling had glimmers of flickering lights from Fairy dust, and shining dull pulses from Elven globes that had long ago burnt out. Even the oldest among them could not remember what it once looked like in all its glory.  
The paintings on the walls that were once beautiful hung in clumps of rags. They were covered in ancient dust, as no one would waste the magic to clean them and they were far too high to reach. Faded hieroglyphs and smoothed out tablets showed that humans once came to this place. In time, even these vague stirrings of the past would disappear. Wooden beams on either side had a shocking amount of cracks. The floors near the walls were smothered in mold. Small puddles of putrid water littered the corners were ceiling met floor. Pieces off of the ceiling lay crumbling and forgotten in the puddles. It would not take a great imagination to see the entire structure falling down at the slightest provocation. Just entering the hall was playing fast with your life. But that is how they had always done these meetings, and thus tradition won out over sanity.  
The chairs that used to line ornate tables were locked in storage, and the tables had been torched to create fires that had once been done with magic. The smell from the fires left a taste of charcoal and burnt hickory that left more than one eye tearing up in protest. It was not a pretty sight, and looked more like a battleground than a once beloved structure.  
The grounds themselves were in between the edges of the Fairy and Elven lands. It was used as a meeting point and both had agreed to share the space for special occasions. The grounds used to be plentiful with life, but most of the nature had withered and died. The sickness seemed to be bleeding into the lands and the hearts of all Fae'Kind. All of Fae'Kind felt the decay and loss of nature and magic, but no living being in either kingdom knew the cause.  
They had all forgotten of the mages and the ancient ones that created the barrier except for the eldest of them. Even those, did not believe that the barrier could create such a thing. Even fewer knew that the humans had started manifesting. Because of this, only wild theories flew around. Some blamed the other kingdom; some blamed the presence of humans in their land, and yet others blamed the appearance of werewolves and vampires. There were only a handful of Fae'Kind that believed this since to them, vampires and werewolves do not exist. It is interesting that magical beings would believe others to be a fiction.  
The most prevalent theory on absent magic was blamed on the humans at first. Since Fairies and Elves had taken humans as pets, lovers, and for experimentation, the decline had to be caused by them. Or so they thought. When the magic became noticeably absent and the Great War started, humans were the first to be hunted. When the humans all seemed to be gone and the magic continued to decline, most theories about them were dropped. After that, the humans were used only for fun or sport by the Fairies, and observation by the Elves. The continued presence of occasional humans started the rumors back again. In a way, they were right that humans were gaining magic. In another way, their own greed and decadence was the cause. Or so it is said.  
As time went on, the Elves and Fairies began to fidget nervously waiting for the royal members to arrive. Confusion and the beginnings of panic started to permeate the room. These feelings were foreign to both sides, and made things worse. Having the royal family arrive later to any meetings or celebrations was typical; however, the military was usually there to interact with the rest of the group. The royal families had had many assassination attempts, so more military personnel were enlisted each time to protect them. This was the first time anyone had stood in the Great Hall without any military members in view. To save the most prominent of members, the rest had been left to their own devices. The stirring of a riot in the Great Hall was occurring, and there was no one to stop it.  
Finally, the first wave of the military was spotted. The lower ranks came in first, followed by the higher ranks surrounding the royal families. The great second-in-command of the Elves was noticeably absent, and many lips turned up smugly at the fall of a Moon Elf, but none dared comment out loud. They made their way through the Great Hall and the military moved aside to let the royal families touch the wall to open the royal thrones. As the generals and commanders moved aside, the King of the Fairies, Oberon, looked over and noticed that the Princess was gone. He holds up a hand to stop everyone.  
“What is this? Where is the Princess?” He demanded.  
Knowing of the Princess’s tendency for selfishness and greed, he had not been looking forward to this conversation, but having her not show up was even more disrespectful than what he expected. He had heard rumors that she was missing, but was hoping they were just rumors.  
The Queen’s second cousin stepped forward from the small group of royal family members, and spoke timidly, “She’s sick.”  
“She is sick? Our people are ready to exterminate each other, and she is taking a sick day?” He turned a quizzical look at her. “Your Queen is ill and bedridden and now your Princess is suddenly ‘sick’. Why do I not believe you?”  
The Queen’s cousin bowed only her head in respect, or maybe to avoid my eyes, he thought, as she did not do the traditional bowing of the waist to a higher ranking member, even of an opposite faction. Both societies agreed on this propriety in public.  
“She suddenly took ill, I am the only one that is available of royal blood, as the rest of the family is related by marriage.” She said demurely.  
The King narrowed his eyes, “You hardly count as 'royal blood.' You have little more than a drop. I can only feel a small inkling that you have any at all. Surely, you jest. I barely even know who you are; I don’t even know your name.”  
The Queen’s cousin said quietly, “My name is Shania.”  
The King was starting to look agitated. “That was not exactly my point. Rumor has it that the Queen is near death and you do not have enough royal blood to take over the position. You barely have enough magic to open the royal door, let alone to take on all that Elven magic... Wait, Shania... Don’t I recognize that name?” The Elves started whispering frantically to each other, as they recalled something bad about Shania, but couldn’t quite remember what it was.  
Shania’s head snapped up, “Where did you hear this rumor? Were you spying on us in the castle?” She ignored the question of her name completely, which caused the King to get angry. First she does not bow correctly, and now she was ignoring his questions and implying impropriety on his part?  
Oberon's voice rose slightly when he said, “Were you lying to us when you said the Princess is only sick? Not that there will be any tears spilled by us if she is dead, but it does cause a disturbance in the balance of magic.”  
Shania glared daggers at the King, “How dare you talk of the Princess in such a matter!”  
The room erupted in noise, everyone whispering to their neighbor, all wondering the same thing. Where was the Princess? And What is going to happen with no strong heirs? It had been a long time since another family had sat on the throne. The blood magic seal had been done in Cynthia's reign to make sure that they would always know who is in charge. The fact that it was her cousin's idea was lost on no one, but Cynthia had had little room to argue.  
The King’s hand started clenching as he struggled to hold onto the temper that rarely was provoked. “How DARE you lie to me, to all of us? You put us all in danger!”  
Shania shouted at the King, “How dare YOU spy on us!”  
The monarch shouted back, “I wouldn’t NEED to spy if you would do YOUR job right.”  
Shania screamed, “That’s it, we are declaring war on you!”  
With this proclamation, the whole room gasped and then went silent. Moments ticked by as both sides stared at the monarch and stand-in-monarch surrounded by military personnel. The shouted words of the last few minutes had been heard by all, and seemed to reverberate through the room. None of them could believe what they had heard. Fighting between the groups had gone on for a long time, but war had not been declared by either side since the end of the Great War. The losses to their sides were always too large to consider. What the Queen’s cousin was declaring was unthinkable.  
“Are you out of your MIND, Elf?” Oberon asked very slowly. Shaking now with rage at such a suggestion, as that would amount to magical suicide. “We can’t go to all-out war. There would be too many losses. We do not want to send so many to the place from whence we came. No one here wants war. I don’t think you even have the authority to declare war.”  
She practically snarled back, “I have all the authority I need to do whatever I want, you little Troll.” The crowd gasped again at such an insult. To call anyone a Troll was the worst of all insults, and to the King of a nation, it was blasphemous. “Oh, be quiet. Would you dare to defy me, the last of the royal bloodline?” She stared down the Elves on her nation's’ side of the Great Hall. The Elves looked down, unable to meet her eyes. “Step forward if you have an objection.” She gestured to her commanders and all but Commander Nightbreeze aimed their weapons at the Elves. No Elf dared move forward.  
The Fairy army started to raise their Fairy dust weapons at the stand in Queen, and she waved a hand using strong magic to put them all to sleep, as well as the rest of the royal family.  
As the King saw his trusted soldiers and his cousins’ fall to the ground in heaps, he stared at Shania. Dumbfounded, he asked, “Where did you get such magic?” She just smiled and waved the command at the soldiers again to kill the citizens.  
The Commander whispered to her “My lady, we can’t kill our people, they have done nothing wrong.”  
Shania didn’t even glance at him. “My people stand behind my proclamation of war.” She glared at the King, daring him to deny her again.  
“You are insane. You can’t threaten to kill all of your people!” The King looked out at his Fairy people, and saw they all held anger in their eyes. Most were actively glowing, which is not something he had seen in a long time.  
He glanced across the room to the Elves and they too held anger directed at the stand in Queen. The King addressed the room, “My people, we can’t do this. We can’t give into threats. We are better than this.”  
The Queen’s cousin started to rant, “You have no control over MY people, Fairy...” then, her eyes slowly narrowed in suspicion. “For a Fairy, you like to use the vocabulary of a human.”  
The Fairy people started shouting, and Shania made another gesture to the Elven soldiers. This time, the Elves aimed their guns at the Fairies. The Commander tried to protest again, but she lifted her hand to gesture for his execution, and he closed his mouth. The stand in Monarch looked out at the audience, hand across her throat, ready to give the kill order.  
The Fairy King raised his hands in surrender. “Alright, no need to kill everyone here. I will give you your war. Better that some of us would survive than to have everyone die this moment. Live today to fight tomorrow.”  
Shania grinned evilly. “Thanks, your majesty.” She bowed sarcastically. “But, nothing said I was going to let them live.” She gestured and all but the Commander launched a magical orb into the chamber of their guns preparing to fire.  
The Fairies readied their dust, ready to fight for life. The King said desperately, “Wait, I’ll let you take me prisoner if you let them live.” He stepped forward and held out his hands.  
“Hmm... a live King I can use for his great magic repeatedly. I like it. Done.” She gestured at the nearest guards.  
The Commander stepped forward. “I will take him.”  
The Queen’s cousin smiled. “About time you listened to me.” The Commander pulled out large magical chains and put them over the King’s wrists.  
As the Commander took the King downstairs to the dungeon, he whispered, “I can’t let you go, but this way I can keep an eye on you and make sure no one kills you.”  
The King whispered back, “How do I know I can trust you?”  
The Commander stopped halfway down the ancient stone stairs. “Your wife is alive.”  
The King stared at him. “I don’t have a wife.”  
The Commander sighed, “Yes, you do, but you don’t want anyone to know, because she is a human.” The King’s eyes went wide. “Yes, I know, I remember. I’m the oldest Elf alive for a reason, I have eyes and ears everywhere, and my magic is strong enough to resist the memory magic spell you put on everyone. You aged 100 years for using that spell.”  
The King’s eyes filled with confusion. “She is dead, though. I heard from my most trusted advisers that no trace of her life force exists.”  
The Commander smiled for the first time in many years. “That is because that is what I wanted them to see.”  
Meanwhile, upstairs the Queen’s cousin turned back to the crowd. She smiles evilly. “Kill them all,” she orders her guards.  
The new current second-in-command stepped forward, “But lady, we promised we would set them free.”  
The Queen shrugged, “So what, I lied about letting them go. Now they can all die.”  
The Fairies glow increased in intensity. No matter how little magic the Fairies had, they were glowing brightly now. Survival instinct had kicked in magic they had forgotten they had, ancient magics that were so ingrained they were in every Fairies blood. The Elves started to create their magical orbs.  
The second-in-command again spoke up, “My lady, we are many things, but we do not lie about things such as this”.  
Shania turned and shot a massive Elven orb at the unsuspecting Elf, giving him no time to counter with his own magic. The orb hit him dead on and soaked into his body, until he burst into a thousand tiny little orbs that scattered through the air and then disappeared. After a second of shock from both sides, the room erupted.  
The Fairies shot Fairy dust at the Elves, and the Elves shot Elven orbs at the Fairies, both desperately trying to defend themselves by going on the offensive. Hundreds of orbs and dust shimmers flew into the air. In just a couple of minutes, many on both sides had gone onto the next life. The Elven military personnel watched it all with shock and horror. They were prepared to threaten, but not to actually outright murder their own kind, or innocent Fairies. Even if they were enemies, it was not honorable to go back on a promise spoken.  
Some Elves debated how bad it would be to shoot the last remaining royal blood, if the rumor about the Princess’ death was true. Some debated shooting themselves to prevent having to make a terrible choice, for it was more honorable to take your own life than to go back on your word or to commit treason.  
As the Great Hall shook, no one inside noticed the many boots that thumped against the ground just outside the hall doors, which had been closed sometime during the chaos. A great booming sound echoes through the Great Hall, but is quickly swallowed up by the sounds of battle. The ramming sound echoed twice more, and the Great Hall doors burst open to reveal a few dozen Dwarfs.  
The Dwarven King, Jumble, lead the charge bellowing, “Honey, I’m home!” into the room. The fighting stopped for a moment as those that had been locked in combat turned to the new intruders. Even Shania stopped in the middle of obliterating a Fairy she was holding to stare at them.  
The Dwarves were of course, small in stature, as the legends said. However, they looked more like beautiful warrior women, then bearded stout men. The humans would have thought them to be small Elves, such was their stature. For a moment, a hush went over the crowd as confusion spread. Then, seeing the raised axes and the heightened features of flushed cheeks and bright eyes ready for conquering, fear returned.  
More concerned with the imminent death in front of him, the Fairy in Shania's hand ignored the shouting and the Dwarves entirely. The Fairy stuttered, “p-p-please d-d-don’t k-k-k-kill me.”  
Still holding the struggling Fairy, the Queen’s cousin ignored him and laughed at the Dwarfs. “What are you doing here? This is a private party.”  
The Dwarven King (despite his looks he was said to be the King and not the Queen, with none ever daring to ask for any confirmation) Jumble bellowed, “Your magic was shaking the very ground you stand on. Even we felt it. We knew a great battle was happening, and we wanted in.”  
The false Queen laughed harder and said, “And what are you going to do about it? Everyone knows Dwarfs don’t have magic, you aren’t even considered Fae'Kind. Go back to your tunnels.”  
The Fairy still clutched in her fist finally noticed the Dwarfs and attempted to smash his own head against the orb begging, “Please kill me, please kill me! Anything but a Dwarf!”  
Jumble laughed joyfully as all the Dwarven Axes had started to glow a mighty Magma Orange. Shania’s smile died as he stepped forward. “That would be where you’re wrong. We have magic; we just reserve it for special occasions instead of wasting them.” He gestured for his men to come forward as well. “Come along men, this looks like it’s going to be a lot of fun.”  
With whoops and bellows they surged forth as one. Several Elves and Fairies used what was left of their magic to turn tail and run from the apocalypse upon them. The new Great War had begun.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> It takes a lot of work to add back in spaces between paragraphs. I think I might just leave it as is. Let me know if it is too hard to read this way.


	6. The Warrior

Rina stood frozen in place. Her hand was on her weapon as she stared at the other Elven woman in front of her. The man that had fallen with the Fairy was clearly an imbecile and obviously human, since she could detect not a trace of magic. Most humans had at least a trace of magic, so that one had to be particularly stupid. She could, however, feel something strange and powerful from the female. The human called her Dalaina, she thought to herself. She sent out her magic a bit to feel her presence more strongly. Her magic is... familiar. It feels like that strange magic, the one from... could it be from home? She must have been the one that I had felt at times, but that I could never find. I wonder if she feels it too?  
Rina glanced her over more thoroughly as she opened up her senses. Her eyesight was more keen than most at even twice her age from years in combat. She knew that as she was technically untrained and not yet an adult that it would be painful, but nothing could prepare her for the flood that struck her with the power of an atomic bomb.  
Dalaina's magic was nearly blinding, surrounding her in a halo of infinite colors and patterns. Rina had seen young Elves that were untrained previously, but this was beyond what she had seen before. Shapes twisted erratically and hues flipped so fast her eyes could not keep up. It was the most wild magic her eyes had ever seen.  
Look at her, all that strange magic, she has to be a Troll. No simple Elf would look like that. She dismissed the thoughts of familiarity with this new information.  
Rina's eyes burned as though she were staring directly into the sun. Spots swam in her eyes and images danced across her mind like drunken ballerinas. This is just great, she thought. First, I am run into by Tobias the Fairy, then Dalaina the Troll and Luke the Human. What’s next... a Dwarf?  
Hand still on her weapon on her side, she watched as the man who introduced himself as Luke started fumbling around for something. Tobias says disdainfully, “Do you need help looking for something there, marshmallow?”  
Dalaina, confused, asked, “What’s a marshmallow?”  
Tobias and Rina look right at Dalaina with an incredulous expression. Luke squints in her general direction, his eyes unused to the darkness and trying to follow voices by instinct.  
“What? Why is everyone staring at me? Well, everyone but Luke who’s attempting to, but is looking about six inches to the left.”  
Luke squints at her correctly now and states, “I’m pretty sure that was a joke this time.”  
Rina ignored the comment and replied, “A marshmallow is a delicacy eaten by the elite. I can see why you would not know what one is.”  
Luke says, “Hey, now that was uncalled for. I assume you Elves don’t all live in the same place, hers must not have access to it.”  
Rina says, “Hence my comment that she would not know what one is. She clearly has little understanding of the human world or the luxuries of Fae'Kind prestigious society. It was meant as an observation, not a judgment. I meant no offense.”  
Tobias says, “It sounded a bit offensive to me as well, you should have worded that more carefully, warrior woman.”  
Dalaina steps in front of Tobias. “You guys do know that I can defend myself? I do not need for you to speak for me.”  
Rina defends him, “I should not have implied you were from a lesser society. I should have said you had less access. It was my mistake, and he is correct.” She bows to signal her apology.  
With an incredulous expression on her face, Dalaina looks back at her and replies, “You’re defending him when just a moment ago he criticized you?”  
Rina stands back up straight and glares at her. “Are you implying that I do not have enough integrity to admit a wrong simply because someone stated I did this wrong in a negative way?”  
Dalaina glares back and says, “Do you have to be so technical in every word you say to the point of sounding pretentious?”  
“Ladies! Ladies, let’s not fight.” Tobias looks around at the two girls now glaring at each other. Then he looks at Luke, seeing him looking dejected and staring at the floor of the cave again. Not wanting to use him as an ally, but seeing no choice he asks again, “Marshmallow, do you need help finding something?”  
“Oh, yeah my flashlight, it fell out of my hand when you ran into me.” Luke goes back to patting the ground around him looking for the flashlight, obviously trying to diffuse the tension in the room. The girls stop glaring at each other long enough to look over at the two men just as Tobias manages to find the flashlight. As soon as he touched the flashlight, it turned on.  
Everyone was temporarily blinded, as they were all looking directly at it. Luke took the longest to recover, and finally noticed that his books had spilled from his backpack, “Oh, that's just frigging' Great! Now I have to clean this up too. Can you hold that so that I can pick these books up?” Tobias reluctantly held on to the flashlight held out to him by Luke with an exasperated look on his face. “Thanks.” Luke said as Tobias continued to hold it out as Luke started to pick up his books.  
Tobias shrugged as he complied. Dalaina looked back at Rina. She had been so busy arguing and helping Luke to stand up that she hadn’t looked beyond her face. Seeing her bracer clearly marking her rank, she shouted, “You! You’re the second-in-command of the Elven Army,” and bowed deeply to her superior. She trembled for daring to speak ill of such an honored person and silently berated herself for yet another mark against herself. She could never seem to do anything right.  
By all the magic of Fae'Kind, I had to find someone in the human realm that instantly recognizes the markings of my rank. I wish I could take them off, but they are the only thing controlling my magic until I come of age. Rina tries too late to hide her arms behind her back while saying, “No. No I am not.” It was clear that no one was believing her.  
“You’re a Commander?” Tobias exclaimed, dropping the light to his side, and only then remembering to bow deeply.  
“Wait, you have armies?” Luke asked as he continues trying to pick up his books despite the light being down at the wrong angle again. He frowned in the direction of the others. “That isn’t mentioned anywhere in the books. How did YOU get to be a Commander? You’re so short.”  
“I am not short. Why do people keep saying that? I am taller than the Tallest Elf by several inches. Even so, I was not and am not now THE commander. I was the second in command. Why wouldn’t we have armies?” Rina asked Luke.  
“She's taller than you. So why doesn't that count?” Luke pointed at Dalaina.  
“Why are you no longer the second in command?” Dalaina asked as she stood back up straight.  
“Why can’t we ask one question at a time? You’re all losing me here.” Tobias said.  
Rina sighs, aggravated and uncomfortable with the line of questioning. “Let’s just say... there was a disagreement. Are we just going to stand here discussing the military and how tall I am all night, or are we going to get some wood so we don’t freeze to death?” Rina said.  
Tobias brought the flashlight back up and accidentally shone it at Rina’s face, temporarily blinding her again in the process. She tried to block it with her hand, but was too late. I am surrounded by incompetent people, she thought.  
“I guess we can go, but we better put the human in front so if he falls down to break his leg we can catch him.” Tobias said.  
“Hey!” Everyone looks at Luke, expecting him to respond to Tobias’ insult. “I found the book I was looking for, OLD TRUSTY!” Luke hugs the book to his chest like it was his best friend in the entire world. Then, he looks up to everyone staring at him. “Did I miss something?”  
“Sure thing, Marshmallow. You take point.” Tobias said.  
“Point? What’s point?” Luke asks while still sitting on the floor.  
Rina this time shakes her head and laughs. “He’s going to get us all killed. Come on marshmallow, you take lead.” This human is too stupid to be much of a threat. He’s worse than a Troll is. At least he’s somewhat entertaining.  
“Seriously, what does point mean?” Luke asks again as he holds out his hands for the flashlight.  
Tobias hands the flashlight back to Luke and their hands brush. Everyone in the cave shivers and a slight magical charge flows through the cave. Tobias’ mouth dropped open. The girls just looked at Luke, waiting for him to take the lead, seemingly undisturbed by the burst of magic.  
“I suppose we should expect this kind of thing from touching hands, having two different realms touch each other can create a ripple effect in the...” Luke started explaining excitedly in a bunch of scientific terms that sounded like mumbo jumbo to Rina, and she stopped listening.  
Luke kept explaining his theory as he walked out of the cave with the flashlight in one hand and ‘Old Trusty” in the other. Every once in awhile he would open to a page in his book, completely taking his eyes off the ground in front of him, to consult it. He would point out a page just to himself, since no one else really cared. He muttered about bumping into things and jump starting an electrical charger until he said “Hey, here’s something about magic and the Fairy mounds...”  
As everyone finally notices what he is saying and looks at Luke, suddenly Tobias yells, “No, don’t step there, it’s a Fairy… mound...” Luke falls in, and Tobias sighs. “Well I guess we have to follow him now.”  
Rina throws her hands up in the air in the Fae'Kind offensive gesture the humans use for surrender, “Of all the magic in the Fae'Kind world that works. It has to be this.” Sighing, she says offhandedly, “Fairies...”  
Tobias asks, “What’s that supposed to mean?”  
Rina replies, “You know what it means. It is a Fairy mound, therefore, the fault of Fairies. Let’s go save the human”  
Dalaina corrects Rina, “His NAME is Luke.”  
Rina glances at Dalaina. ”Yes, Luke. Last I checked he was a human, unless that changed in the last six seconds.”  
“Wait just a minute, you implied that Fairies are bad, that’s... that’s... that’s racist!” Tobias accuses.  
“It is not!” Rina said defensively.  
Dalaina corrects Tobias, “Don’t you mean prejudice, Fairy?”  
Tobias sighs, “Let’s just go get Marshmallow.”  
Rina “That’s what I said...” Shaking her head, she walks into the mound.  
Tobias and Dalaina look at each other. Tobias was wondering if he really should go after the human, while Dalaina was wondering why Rina had so many issues with Fairies and humans and if it was truly safe to follow her. They both decide to go through. Luke is sitting on the floor of another cave with his books spread out all around him, looking back and forth multiple times from the book in his hand to the portal in front of him and scratching his head in confusion.  
Irritated, Tobias says, “What’s your issue now?”  
“It changed colors. It was Red and now it’s Blue. I just stepped towards it and it turned to Blue. I wanted to know why, so I had to find my book, and it’s not here. I know I had it! This is the wrong book, and it doesn’t say anything about it.” Luke explained. He held his hand that usually had Old Trusty in it. He held up a book that was so torn and dirty that it was obvious the book lover Lucas did not own it.  
Changing mound colors, moving books, what have I gotten myself into? Rina thought. Maybe this is all a dream and I’m still asleep in my bed, still second in command...  
Tobias crossed his arms telling Luke in a matter of fact tone, “That is because humans cannot see the colors of the mounds when they first come through, and they normally spend so much time here that they don’t want to go back. Alternatively, they will be captured and won't be able to come back. Your book would not have it written in there. No one would be able to write about the colors, and you should not be able to see them either. This must be another side effect of touching you earlier or when we ran into each other.”  
My dreams could never be this strange. Rina thought.  
“I’ve never heard of that before.” Rina frowned.  
“That is because you are an Elf not a Fairy. We simply cannot afford to tell all the Fae'Kind our secrets.” Tobias responded.  
“What does it mean when it switches colors then, um...Pretzel?” Luke asks trying to give Tobias an offensive nickname.  
Dalaina watched in silence as the others exchanged words in rapid succession. She had no idea what any of them were talking about, and was starting to get sick of everyone looking at her as if she was an imbecile every time she asked a question. It was not her fault that no one had taught her these things. She would not dare to open her mouth right now.  
Tobias stared at Lucas for a moment, and then said with a raised eyebrow, “Pretzel? Try again, Marshmallow. When the mound changes colors it means that it has recently changed locations, we would have no way of knowing where we would come out. This is yet another way that my kind forced humans to stay here.”  
“Well, how long does that take and where will it go?” Rina asked.  
Tobias shrugged, “I don’t know. I didn’t create this one. By the looks of this cave, it hasn’t been used in a long time. I doubt that there is anyone alive who knows.”  
“Great, so we have to find the main barrier again, find another mound or a portal, or wait for this one to turn Red again and take a shot in the dark about where we will end up.” Dalaina finally had something she could chime in.  
“Exactly. So, what’s it going to be? Marshmallow, pick your books up. Just in case someone does happen to come by it will mark you as a human. You do NOT want that.” Tobias said.  
Picking up his books, Luke asks, “Why? What would happen if they found out I had books?”  
Rina explains, “A Fairy tribe will undoubtedly be close to the mound due to its high magic content and ability to get quickly in and out of the human realm. They like to take humans as slaves, toys, or pets. The Elves like to study your kind. If you are with us, they will assume you are charmed, but if you have your books lying around, they will think that we are selling our secrets. It is a death sentence no matter what faction you are from”, she finishes under her breath, “I should know...”  
Rina thinks back to the last few days. She had just returned from scouting out the field of the upcoming battle, when she received the summons to see Commander Nightbreeze. She walked into the war room and into the middle of yet another heated discussion between him and the snotty Princess Brittannah. When giving her opinion, Brittannah had backhanded her, sending her to the floor. Rina lightly touched her cheek, shivering at the thought of it.  
After Brittannah had left, saying she felt faint from all the tension, Commander Nightbreeze had helped her off the floor, telling her what Brittannah had just told him. She was stunned. The Commander told her to flee telling her that while it was not the honorable thing to do, it was the only way to give him enough time to sort everything out. She had tried to fight it. She was all about following the rules and being the best she could be. In the end, Commander Nightbreeze had to order her to leave, as that would be the only way she would go. She had no idea what happened afterwards.  
She fled with nothing but her clothes and the nearest weapons. She dared not risk getting her Eversharp blade, or any of the other magically enhanced weapons. There were ways those weapons could be tracked. Only her armor was safe, as Nightbreeze had made the pieces himself, and he would never put a magical tracking device into armor. Only her simplest weapons could come with her.  
She felt naked; it was less than half of the weapons that she normally wore. She did not have her cloak or any food, as she dared not stay any longer than necessary. Going without food, she might die in a couple weeks. Without her weapons, there were too many enemies and she could be dead in a matter of seconds.  
Tobias and Dalaina look at Rina, confused. They both knew the stories of the Great Elf who fought off her own army to save the children of a rival clan, and rose to be the second in command of the massive Elven army. Oh, I said too much! Rina thinks to herself, as she realizes that the others had heard her. They looked at each other, each daring the other to ask the question of how she knew what would happen to a branded traitor. Neither took the dare, and they let it go for now. It was neither the time nor the place.  
Rina backed away from the others, and looked to the West side of the cave trying to see if there was anything nearby that looked familiar so they could start moving. She was feeling like they were being watched, and it was making her nervous. “We need to get moving soon.”  
“I agree. I feel like we are being watched.” Tobias seconded.  
“I need to make sure I have all my books, but Old Trusty is missing. Can you guys help me find him?” Luke said. They all looked back at him, having forgotten about him again.  
Dalaina said, “You need to keep better track of things. It’s too bad that your... Cell Phone? That was what it was called, right?” Luke nodded. “It’s too bad it wasn’t working, because if it was, then you wouldn’t need to carry around all those books!”  
Looking around the West end of the cave, Luke responds, “Most of the electronics in my realm have been slowly not working. It started with the airplanes, and then there were rolling blackouts. Now you are lucky if you can get a cell phone or car to work. Besides, there is nothing like the smell of a book.”  
“Electronics? Are those the mechanical things that are on long metal poles that sound like this buzz?” She imitated the sound of a generator. “Or are they the mechanical things that soar through the air and go whoosh?” She imitated the sound of an Airplane. “Or are they the little Mechanical things that people had on their wrists that go tick… tick… tick?” She imitated the sound of a wristwatch.  
Luke just shakes his head, “This is going to be a long trip.”  
“Why do you keep saying that?” Dalaina asks.  
“My point exactly,” Luke says, still looking for his missing book. Looking up, he realizes that no one is helping him look. “Guys, please! The sooner we find my book the sooner we can get moving.” Tobias shakes his head and starts looking around, Rina and Dalaina sighed and reluctantly followed suit. After about an hour of looking all over the West end, Luke is the last to give up the search, he looks over to see the others sitting on the ground watching him.   
Tobias had handed Rina a cloak, since she looked like she was freezing to death. She had protested until he had said it was his sisters and he had put it in his backpack to remind him of home. She had reluctantly taken it when she saw the sorrow in his eyes when he mentioned her. She felt a kinship with him that she couldn’t name. It was clear to her that he felt it too, but was desperately trying to hide it. It was like her was afraid the anyone that got close to him would be hurt, she had thought.  
He had looked at her with eyes that were far too probing for her liking right at that moment, as though he was begging her not to ask any more questions. She didn’t dare. She might be blunt, but she was never purposely hurtful. Luke had been too busy trying to find his book to notice any of the exchange. Dalaina had, but had stepped back a bit to give them some privacy. Only a blind person wouldn’t notice the reaction between them. A blind person, and Lucas Johnson.  
“Well, it looks like the book is back where we were... the mound is... PURPLE… now?” He rubs the bridge of his nose. “We have to wait for it to turn Red again. It shouldn’t be too much longer.” He looks at the others, “Man I am hungry, is there anything that is safe to eat around here?” Luke rubs his belly.  
Tobias looks around the Fairy mound entrance and points out a fruit tree that was in the West section, right where they had been looking. “That’s strange, it wasn’t there just a minute ago. You can eat the fruit, but only the Pink ones. The other colors are poisonous.” Luke follows the directions and starts eating. After having his fill, he gathers enough for him and Dalaina to eat later, thinking that she was the only semi-sane one in the whole place.   
After seeing what Luke was doing, Tobias gets up and gathers different fruits and plants for him and Rina to eat later, thinking the same thing of her. Then he changes his mind about Dalaina and gathers some for her as well. He munches on some as he gathers and tosses fruit to Rina and Dalaina to eat.  
That was... unusually nice of him. Rina thought. Maybe he just dislikes men?  
Rina spots the mound changing colors. “Oh, look it is Red now!” Rina points at it.  
“Awesome! Is there any way to tell where it’s going?” Luke asks Tobias.  
Tobias annoyed, replies, “I already told you. I did not create this one. I have no idea.” Then he whispered, “I should have told him to eat the White ones.”  
From the East, they hear someone clear their throat, obviously trying to get their attention. Turning around they see a very old Dwarf sitting on a rock holding Luke’s missing book, Old Trusty, and a mostly eaten Orange colored Apple-looking fruit in his other hand. He looked rather comfortable in his Red and Orange robes, similar to the ones Rina had seen in Tibet one of the few times she was in the human realm, and had fruit cores spread out in front of him.  
The Dwarf said in a British accent, “If you kids had stopped arguing or paying attention to anything but yourselves, you would have seen me; The Wandering Dwarf; sitting here watching you the whole time. You only thought about being watched for a minute and promptly forgot, and I heard your whole conversation clear as day.” He shakes his Orange fruit at them. “I could have been any old person, lucky for you, I am just the Wandering Dwarf and I know where that mound goes.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yay! The Wandering Dwarf is here. My favorite character!


	7. Luke, the Researcher

Wait! That’s...That’s...That’s... Luke finishes his thoughts aloud pointing at the Dwarf, “That’s MINE! How did you get that?”  
“Yes, it is yours. I picked it up off the ground ‘course, you really shouldn’t be so careless with your books. ” The Wandering Dwarf shakes his head, “I am surprised that you know anything about our kind at all, so many things that need fixing.”  
“Can I have my book back, please?” Luke asks.  
“Yes, you may have it back. I made a few corrections to your faulty stories. On the plus side there isn’t a better group of people to learn from than these three, unless you count me, the King, and the Commander.” The Wandering Dwarf said. “Outsiders always have the best stories.” He laughs heartily. “Oh, I love me a good story, I tell you this one time, I was walking in the woods and a great and magnificent Fairy appeared before me in her birthday...”  
“Whoa, whoa, too much information.” Luke says.  
The Dwarf laughs good-naturedly, “You youngin’s are always so ready to cut off a good story. Shame, it was one of me best.”  
Tobias says, “For a Dwarf, you sure have a large human-ish vocabulary.”  
“Well, I ain’t called the Wandering Dwarf for nothin’.” He holds out his half-eaten food. “Want some?”  
“No, that’s not necessary. I am... uh... all full. Uh... Thank you anyway?” Luke hesitates, “Can I have my book back now please? Pretty please?”  
The Wandering Dwarf looks back down at Luke’s book. “Right, I forgot. The fragility of age.” He laughs again. “Minds not what it used to be.” Luke seemed to be the only one that believed anything he was saying.   
Luke grabs at Old Trusty and finally gets his book back.  
Tobias says, “Now that you got your precious book back, can we find out where this Fairy mound leads to?”  
“Oh, yes, it leads to Constantinople.” The Dwarf says matter-of-factually.  
“Where is that?” Rina, Dalaina, and Tobias ask at the same time.  
“You mean Istanbul? I always wanted to go there!” Luke proclaims.  
“Right, right, that’s the name your generation gave it.” He waves off the correction, and then scratches his beard. “Why, I remember this one time when was that, 1532... no, 5195... No, that hasn’t happened yet I think... 5 million years ago? No, I wasn’t alive that far back I think.”  
“Will you please just tell us the story or move on? Who cares when it happened?” Tobias says.  
“I agree. We need more relevant information, not something that happened all those years ago.” Luke said.  
The Dwarf switched to a southern accent. “You youngin's interrupt too much. Good luck to you whippersnappers. I’ll come back when you’re calmer.” The Dwarf draws something out of a pouch at his side, and before anyone could react, he threw it to the ground and disappeared in a puff of Red and Orange smoke.  
“Great, you scared him off, Marshmallow!” Tobias says.  
“Hey, maybe he didn’t like you asking ‘who cares’ you big... um... um... Cocoa Puff!” Luke says.  
“Cocoa Puff? I think that one was just as bad as Pretzel. I need to teach you some better insults.” Tobias says. His lips curl up in a half smile.  
Did he just smile at me? Has he been taken over by body snatchers? I remember that movie, scariest thing I ever saw. Maybe the mound changed him. Oh god, body snatchers... The Faculty, Animorphs... Luke thinks of different body snatching stories.  
“Cocoa Puffs? Those little chocolate balls that humans eat with milk for their morning meals?” Dalaina asks.  
“How did you hear about those?” Rina asks.  
“I read it in a book.” Dalaina shrugs.  
Should I check for bugs in his ear? Oh god, what if they are crawling into mine? “Someone check my ear!” Luke pleads.  
Everyone glances at him and ignores him as he sticks his fingers in his ears. “Do you think he is okay?” Dalaina asks.  
“I’m not sure, are humans normally like this?” Rina asks.  
“How should I know? I’ve only seen them in small windows of time by the Fairy mounds and the ones smuggled into the cities.” Tobias lied. He knew it wasn't normal, but he wasn't about to admit how much he knew to these people.  
Oh god, if the mound can change Fae'Kind, what can it do to me? Luke thinks as he starts frantically patting himself, checking for extra appendages. The others notice him acting stranger than usual, and stare at him as he dances around as if he has squirrels in his pants. Oh god, oh god, Please tell me I still have the same number of toes. He takes his shoe off and tosses it over his shoulder, hitting Rina directly in the face.  
“Ouch, what are you doing?!” Rina yells, rubbing her face.  
Luke continues taking off his other shoe, and tosses it behind him. This time he nearly hits Tobias, but he manages to dodge it.  
“Have you lost your ever Fae'ing Magic mind?” Tobias asks staring at the shoe that almost hit him.  
Luke takes off his socks and tosses them over his shoulder now. One landing on Dalaina’s foot and the other on Tobias.  
Tobias slowly peels the sock off his face with a look of pure disgust, gagging as he tosses it away. Rina barely manages not to laugh, in what would have been the first time she ever giggled in her life.  
“Gross, those smell!” Dalaina scrunches her nose.  
“Yep. He’s lost it.” Tobias said walking towards that mound, “Are we going or dancing?”  
“Hey, they do not smell! I am checking myself, because Tobias smiled. YOU SMILED.” Luke points an accusatory finger at Tobias. “Either the mound changed you or you are not Tobias. Since you are still giving me as much grief as before, obviously the mound had some kind of chemical reaction to your body. What other possible explanation can there be, and STOP STARING AT ME LIKE THAT!”  
Just then, a bird falls from the sky landing next to Luke.  
“That was just coincidence; my feet did not do that. Stop trying to make me look bad.” Luke shakes his fist at the sky.  
Another bird falls down.  
“Okay, now you’re just being cruel. Where did that bird even come from?” Luke shouts, and then continues his crazy dance.  
“They came from the tree, Luke. And, well, all of Fae'Kind, even our birds, have a strong sense of smell,” Rina says straight-faced, “So it is quite logical that we would notice it more than your nose would. All our senses are heightened.” She turns around and her face twitches as she tries not to laugh.   
Tobias, who was always unconsciously watching her, had noticed her expression. He jokingly tsked softly at her as his heart thumped at the indication of her sense of humor. Maybe they did have something in common after all. Rina bumped his shoulder lightly as she walked by in a teasing gesture. She sees Delaina looking at them both with her eyebrows raised and her face showing a clear indication that she thought that something was going on between the two of them. Rina shrugged self consciously and Dalaina smiled.   
Luke looks up, stopping his frantic dance. “Even senses of humor?”  
“For some, possibly, although others may have less so.” Rina says, with her lips twitching furiously and her chest wobbling in barely restrained laughter.  
“Why is everyone looking at me now?” Dalaina asks as everyone turns to look at her.  
“No reason, fluffy, no reason at all.” Luke says in an innocent tone as he puts his socks and shoes back on.  
“Fluffy? What does that mean? In what way am I ‘fluffy’?” Dalaina asks, confused. All laughter gone in an instant.  
“This is going to be a really long trip.” Luke sighs.  
Rina and Tobias nod in agreement.  
“Why am I fluffy, will someone please start explaining things without insulting me for once?” Dalaina asks angrily.  
“You are right, and I am sorry. We should not make fun of you for things you do not know.” Rina says.  
Tobias and Luke, ashamed, nod in agreement.  
“Fluffy is a term that is used for someone who does not know how to protect themselves from humans. How Marshmallow knows this I am not sure.” Rina said. “It is sometimes used in accordance with children... ” Rina quietly whispers under her breath the last part as she realizes she was about to insult Dalaina again.  
It means that people don’t know how to protect themselves from... what? I’ve never heard that one before. Luke thought.  
“Oh... Well, I am sorry that I have not had proper training.” Dalaina huffs.   
The birds on the ground give up on their joke and fly away. Everyone stares at them, dumbfounded. Even the Fae’Kind members of their group didn’t know that birds could have a sense of humor. Luke wondered what else they didn’t know. He was struck by a sudden urge to write down as much as he could about their society.  
“Sooo, do Fae'Kind have last names?” Luke asked. It was a silly question, but one that had been bugging him since he had introduced himself to Dalaina. He was on an adventure with creatures of myth and legend! I need to know every awesome silly stupid wonderful thing about them, he thought.   
“Last names? Is that like Clan names?” Tobias asked.  
Luke said, “Your full name. Like mine is Lucas Allen Johnson. My parents were Johnson’s, therefore, I am. Although this is not always true, sometimes we get hyphenations or other derivatives of our mother’s last names.”  
“Oh, we have our race names, Fairy, Elf, Dwarf, things like that. We have Tribe names like Pixie and Sprite. Then we have Clan names like Drow, Moon, Masquerade, Tinkers ...” Rina says. Listing off some possible names that Luke could be looking for.  
“You mean like Tinkerbell, from Peter Pan?” Luke lights up.  
“What’s a Tinker Bell?” Tobias asks.  
“It’s a movie... uh, a form of entertainment, that has a Fairy in it.” Luke explains.  
“Oh, I see. So, would you like our race name, tribe name, and clan name?” Tobias asked.  
“Well, is that considered your full name?” Luke asks.  
Tobias sighs, “Fine, we’ll tell you the whole thing. Shall we start with clan names?”  
Everyone looks down at his or her feet waiting for someone else to speak first.  
“I know that names are supposed to have some kind of power according to my books, but there are tons of magical folks that have full names.” Luke said. “What about Rumpelstiltskin... okay, bad example, they never gave a last name, well, what about the Fairy Godmothers Flora Fauna and... no last names again, right.. hmm...”  
“I do not see why it matters,” Dalaina said to her feet.  
“Well, in D&D they get names like Oolastine Gladomain,” Luke said.  
“What manner of name is that?” Rina asked.  
“It’s a fine name; it’s for a Female Elven Commander such as you.” Luke said.  
“Fine, my ‘full name’ is Fairy Nicholias 'Tobias' Troll Trickster” Tobias bowed.  
“You’re a Fairy?!” Luke looks Tobias up and down and starts to circle him, “You don’t look like Fairy. Fairies are tiny,” Luke motions with his index and thumb, “Like 5 inches tall at most.”  
“I’m not sure where you heard that but it’s wrong. Elves are shorter than us, Fairies are taller, and Dwarves are the shortest.,” Tobias glaces at Dalaina, “There are exceptions to this of course.”  
“Wait, you are a Troll? I thought that... uh... never mind that... Mine is Elf Second-in-command Rina Moon.” Rina stopped herself from calling him a Sun Fairy with Gigantism and bowed as well.  
“You’re a Moon Elf? How can that be? Moon Elves have almost opaque skin, and your skin is so dark.” Tobias said.  
“I was in the army. We spend a lot of time outside in the sun. What is your excuse?” Rina responded with a bite in her voice.  
“Touché.” Tobias says without explaining further. He glanced down and realized he wasn't in glamour. He wondered how long he had been that way. He always saw himself as his true self, and anyone that knew him well was also able to see through it. He never forgot to change his body, it was as natural as breathing. He wondered for a moment what had made him forget. Too late to change now, he thought. The goddess had set him on this path, and he was bound and determined to stay on it. He might be a troll, but he was not a fool.  
Dalaina continues to stare at the ground, refusing to speak.  
“You can tell us, it can’t be as bad as being a Troll or a Moon Elf. I promise, we will not laugh at you.” Rina says.  
Dalaina stays silent.  
“You can tell us, please, I really want to know.” Luke says.  
“Please, stop asking.” Dalaina whispered dejectedly.  
Luke explained, “I want to know so I have the most accurate information available on Fairy and Elf Culture. See, I have been writing of our adventures, and I want to show you guys as accurately as possible.”  
“Fine! It’s Elf Dalaina. That is all there is to tell. No clan, no tribe. Just an Elf.” Dalaina’s face showing agonizing pain, shattered by the revelation of having no clan, she runs off.  
“Wow. I didn’t know things like that were possible. I hope she is okay.” Luke says.  
“TRIX… BIX… LEONI… DIX… ZACHI… NIX… RINA… Dalaina… FRANK… wait, he is a baby... MARSHMALLOW! GO GET HER!” Tobias stumbles over the names of the people he cares about, finally settling on one.  
Shaking off the shock from Tobias’ outburst Luke runs after Dalaina.  
“We’re never getting out of this cave, are we?” Rina asked.  
“We changed one cave for yet another. Someone out there really does not like us.” Tobias replied.  
….........................................................................................................................................  
It took a few minutes for Luke to catch up with Dalaina. She was sitting on a rock near the entrance of the cave. Sensing him coming, Dalaina turned her back on him.  
“Dalaina?” Luke whispered.  
“GO AWAY!” She replied.  
Maybe I should sing to her? That might make her feel better, and my mother always told me I had an amazing singing voice. Luke thinks this as he stares at Dalaina’s back. But what song...  
Humming, Luke gets Dalaina’s attention. Realizing this, Luke starts singing the parts of Perfect by the artist P!nk that he could remember, humming the parts that he couldn’t. By the time he had gotten to the course he had started dancing, pausing only long enough to try to pull Dalaina to her feet to dance with him. Giving up on that he starts to lose himself in song and dance.  
“Why are you singing a P!nk song to me? I mean I love that song, but... Ah... you don’t sing it as well as her.” Dalaina interrupts, stopping Luke with his arms and one leg in the air.  
Surprised, Luke drops his arms and leg and asks, “How do you know who P!nk is?”  
Dalaina replies, “Because she is an Elf. She used to be called by a different name. I don't remember exactly what it was, it was an anagram of the name she chose in your world. I believe she goes by Alicia something now? She uses glamours to hide her Elven features.”  
“Oh, really? Huh, that explains a lot.” Luke frowns, wondering how many others were hiding in plain sight.  
“I think that we had better be going now.” Dalaina said. Seeing Luke give her a worried look, she reassured him that she was fine. He looked doubtful, but let it go.  
“Just like that? I guess my mother was right, I do have an amazing singing voice.” Luke says beaming. He was still worried, but hid it behind his charming smile like he always did.  
Dalaina found herself unexpectedly laughing at his antics. She knew he was faking it, but it made her feel good that he would care enough to try. Dalaina shakes her head teasingly and leads the way back to the others.

.....................................................................  
.....................................................................  
“So… I wonder if Luke and Dalaina are an item.” Tobias says, breaking the silence.  
“No. Luke is a human, they would NEVER work out.” Rina crosses  
her arms.  
“I think they would be a perfect couple.” Tobias says.  
“Oh? What next? Are you going to say that we would make a good couple? It is forbidden for the kingdoms and realms to mix. You know that.” Rina said.  
“Know what?” Luke asks as Dalaina and he comes back in.  
“Nothing. Don’t worry about it.” Rina responds.  
They heard a soft clatter down the shaft.  
“What was that?” Luke asked.  
“I have no idea, I’ve never been in the underground before.” Rina said. The others shook their head indicating they didn’t know either. They all looked in the direction of the sound, and it looked as though one of the walls had slightly moved.  
“Are the walls moving?” Dalaina asked fearfully.  
“I don’t want to find out.” Luke said.  
“Can we go through the mound now?” Tobias asks.  
“Yes. Let’s go.” Dalaina says as she runs through the mound.  
As the others exited out of the mound, Tobias runs into Dalaina knocking her face first to the ground.  
“Still running into people I see.” Rina says.  
As he got up, he pulled Dalaina to her feet. Since he was older, he didn’t shock her with his magic. He thought again of how he had felt something with Luke, and frowned. Covering up his thoughts he said, “What were you doing just standing there? You knew we were coming right behind you.”  
“Oh, I am sorry; I was just stunned by the beauty of the valley.” Dalaina points to the fog-filled valley just below the mouth of the cave.  
“Ah, Istanbul. The Cultural Center of the world.” Looking up Luke asks, “Where is it?”  
“I think it is below the fog.” Rina said.  
“Oh, that makes sense.” Luke said as he turned back towards the mound to find it gone. “I don’t think whatever was in the cave can follow us through nothing.”  
He turns back towards the city and rubbed his chin. ‘I wonder if we will run into any Gypsies?” He mumbles to himself as he sets his backpack down and starts digging through it. Finding the book he wanted he opened up to a random page, “Oh, they are called Erlides here.”  
He wonders for a moment how he found the passage he was looking for so quickly, almost by instinct, but then immerses himself in the culture and lore of the 'gypsies.'  
“Let’s get moving, please, I want to get into the city and find some food.” Tobias says.  
“You’re hungry again! You just ate.” Luke said incredulously, looking up from his book.  
Shrugging, Tobias starts forward down into the valley and the fog. The others quickly followed. They had forgotten that he still had food in his pocket.  
After a while the fog lifted. Lucas realized his breathe was showing, and that it must be really cold. “Oh, it must be morning. Man, it’s cold.” Luke says shivering. “When we get into the city I am going to buy a coat and a new cell phone.” He looks around and realize only he was without a cloak of some kind. Tobias gave him a strange look and Luke looked away when his stomach churned for no reason. He looks off into the distance to distract himself. “Wow, you can see it from pretty far away. No wonder we couldn’t...”  
“Dalaina!... Tobias!... Rina!” A voice yells from a caravan off the side of the road.  
Turning, they see a young woman waving to them. She had long brown in a single braid they could see swaying as she walked, with tan skin similar to the color of Dalaina’s, and stood at 5’6”. As she got closer, they noticed that she has chocolate brown almond shaped eyes. Her face matched the beauty found in the Fae'Kind, and considered extreme to humans. She was wearing a bright multicolored skirt and a forest green top. She was holding a shimmering light green shawl that matched the sheer scarf wrapped around her head and covering her lower face.  
“My name is Sylvia and I have been waiting for you to show up.” She said.  
“What do you mean you were waiting for us to show up?” Tobias asked.  
“Well, my cards told me that two Elves and a Fairy would be passing this very point and would need help. It didn't tell me much about you, but I saw your name in my mind when I concentrated. And you two,” Indicating Rina and Dalaina, “NEED all the help you can get.” Sylvia finished.  
“And how can you help us? You’re a human.” Dalaina asked.  
Luke stage whispered, “Are you sure? She didn’t see me or know my name. How good can she be? She doesn't look like any real human I have seen, either. She looks even better than the fakes in the magazines. ”  
Dalaina glared at him for that comment, although he wasn't sure why.  
“Come, come, we must teach you to disguise yourselves. There will be plenty of time for more questions later; we have much work to get done.” Sylvia said gesturing theatrically for Dalaina and Rina and indicating the encampment.  
Those two need a TON of help. But, at least while this is happening, I will have time to catch up on my reading AND be able to question these three. My dissertation will be amazing, no... Brilliant! ... No... Revolutionary! Luke smiled to himself.  
“Those two need a ton of help.” Tobias echoed Luke’s thoughts.  
“You know, I was just thinking that.” Luke said following the girls.  
Luke saw Tobias sneak a smile out of the corner of his eye, OH MY...Not again...Tobias smiled at me. Those mounds MUST have done something to him. And if they did sometime to him, then they HAD to have done something to me...  
As his thoughts trailed off Luke started to pat himself down again frantically, making sure he had all his limbs and other parts, and sticking his fingers in his ears. Upon reaching the fire, he flopped down to the ground and removed his shoes and socks, this time making sure there were no birds in the sky. The entire encampment was staring at him in confusion. His companions all shook their heads knowing how this was going to end. Just then, a squirrel fell out of a nearby tree landing next to Luke.  
Looking at it, Luke threw his hands in the air, “Really?”  
“I take it this isn’t the first time something like this has happened.” Sylvia said to Dalaina.  
“No. No, it isn’t but it is just as funny now as it was before.” Dalaina laughed.  
Pouting, Luke put his socks and shoes back on, “It isn’t that funny.”  
The squirrel’s tail twitched. The whole encampment started to laugh at Luke.  
“Okay, I guess it is.” Luke joined in the laughter. The squirrel got up and ran away. He hoped that it was just a stupid squirrel and not that he had accidentally harmed it in any way.  
The weeks passed by quickly for Luke. Magic was used so often that to his untrained eyes it seems like one of those montage scenes from the movies. He would learn much later that the magic affected his senses and overloaded them. For the time being though, he saw very little besides blurs whenever he looked in that direction or got anywhere near them.  
The girls were instructed the first night to never touch each other. They had already been keeping some distance from each other due to their animosity, but Sylvia said if they touched with such little control the wild mild could have unforeseen consequences.  
Luke spent a lot of his time writing in his book. Tobias would come and answer a lot of his questions of the Fae’Kind. Luke asked every question he could think of, from the mundane to the essential. Every answer seemed to lead to another question. Tobias would leave after a while and not come back for extended periods of time. The girls were too busy being exhausted by their magic work to notice. Luke was always too busy writing in his book, or reading through the books he had. Occasionally, Tobias would hand him a new one, and Luke would jump for joy. He tried to hug Tobias once he was so happy, but Tobias moved like quicksilver away from him. He was probably shy because of the way the were shocked the one time they touched.  
One day Luke say Sylvia talking quietly to Tobias in the middle of the night. He got up from his spot near Dalaina. He walked slowly past the spot were Rina was sleeping. He spotted the area were Tobias slept near here, and noticed that it was closer than before. Slowly, one of the two of them would inch closer to the other. If this kept up much longer, they would be cuddling within days. Luke smiled, and then remembered that Tobias was being suspicious. Keep on track, Johnson! He told himself.  
He heard Sylvia saying, “I know, but you can’t keep this to yourself forever.”  
Tobias replied, “Look I know you have the best of intentions, but it’s really…” He stopped mid-sentence and turned directly to where Luke was trying to covertly circle around without being seen.   
Luke could have sworn that he hadn’t made an audible sound. Tobias shook his head. Luke was about to ask him if he was alright when Tobias turned and walked off. Sylvia turned and went to her own quarters. He figured he would just ask tomorrow night about it. However, this was the last night that the quartet would be staying with Sylvia while she taught the girls magic, so Luke never got the chance to ask him what was going on.  
I should back up to what the girls learned. First, the girls started with the small things. They began with glamours and escalated up to changing the entire face. Several times the girls’ magic and Tobias’ Fairy magic combined to create a field of fireworks in the encampment. Tobias kept his distance after a while, so that it would ‘be easier to let them do it without interference.’ He instead patrolled the perimeter of the place, making sure they were safe from prying eyes. Or so he said. Luke had believed him until the last night they were there.  
Twice, the girls found that their faces were multicolored. The second time this happened, they despaired that they would never get it right. That was the night that Commander Nightbreeze had found them. Tobias made himself scarce, not wishing to make trouble with the girls by having them seen with a Troll like him.  
The face the commander made when he walked into the encampment was priceless. Luke had wished with all his might for a camera to take a picture of the three of them. Instead, he had drawn a quick sketch and thrown it into his book with duct tape.  
Duct tape makes everything awesome. He thought. If only I could cover the entire world in duct tape... Of course that would make many people mad, but what are they going to say about it? Their faces will be covered by duct tape! Luke had laughed at his own little joke. Nightbreeze had turned to him with a quizzical look and told them all, “Well, I guess I have to take care of this now...” He had meant their training, but stopped. “What did you do to your face?” He had asked as he stared at Rina with horror as she had turned to him. Upon seeing the First Commander, Rina and Dalaina bowed deeply to him. Dalaina bowed so far over that she had fallen over.  
Luke remembered the scene exactly: One-half of Rina’s face was Orange; the other side had a slightly Pinkish hue that no human or even Fae'Kind skin color could ever match. As Dalaina stood up looking at Nightbreeze fully, his face turned White. “You... too...?” He said as he stares at her half Blue and Half White face. He shakes his head and sighs. “I guess we should get started if we are ever going to have this work.”  
He waved a hand and the magical mishap was gone from each girl. Then he waved his hand again and they were clothed in human clothing and their faces were human-ish, but still obviously identifiable as Dalaina and Rina. They looked more like extremely beautiful models than Elves. Having seen them all bow Luke made a note to ask them about it when Nightbreeze wasn’t around, fearing that his questions would get his new friends killed. He had no way of knowing that Rina was a long-time friend, and that Nightbreeze had no intention of harming anyone, Elf or not. All he knew was that the man was very intimidating, and the girls were showing deep respect and awe for the 'small' Elf.  
“Thank the Magics they don’t look like Oompa-Loompas anymore,” Tobias whispered in his ear out of nowhere. Luke jumped.  
Luke laughed at the comparison. “Oompa-Loompas.”  
“Hey, I do not look like them!” Dalaina says. Everyone turns to her again, surprised. Tobias disappeared again.  
Dalaina continued, “What, everyone else can get access to human things, but I can’t have heard one of the humans talk about it?”  
Nightbreeze shook his head. “Now, all we have to do is to convince them you are human.”  
“At least they make cute Oompa-Loompas.” Tobias says.  
Luke shoots him a dirty look as he simultaneously wondered how Tobias could disappear and appear again so fast...  
“What, like you weren’t thinking the exact same thing?” Tobias said, defensively.  
Luke shrugged but thought he secretly agreed. Tobias disappeared again from sight. Luke was getting a little irritated by the disappearing act.  
Dalaina and Rina demonstrated all they have learned in the last few weeks to the commander. NO. NO. NO. NO. NO. What are they DOING? She looks like a duck! Luke thought of Dalaina as she used her glamour and ended up with pursed blowfish looking lips. This is never going to work. They will never gain control of their magic.  
He watched as Nightbreeze fixed their glamour once again. The five of them, and presumably Tobias, then walked back into the mound to watch Nightbreeze go back through the portal. They would be all on their own now. As Luke now looked one last time over the city, he noticed the Turkish lady next to him. His eyes glazed with despair. Her face looked doubtful and worried.  
The girls said goodbye to Sylvia. She had done the best she could for them. It had been too long, and she must return home. He had no idea how much time had passed, but he guessed it was far too much. Her absence had surely been noticed.  
He thought of his own world and how he had been missing too. He thought of the group of people he was traveling with. Even though they annoyed him from time to time, he was getting to like them more and more with each passing day. He was living a life he had only read about in books or seen in movies until now. He smiled to himself. He wouldn't trade this adventure for anything in the world.


End file.
